Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net. (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE [Illustration: _Frontispiece._ GROUP OF BEECHES, BURNHAM. _Page 167._] THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE AND THE WONDERS OF THE WORLD WE LIVE IN BY THE RIGHT HON. SIR JOHN LUBBOCK, BART., M.P. F.R.S., D.C.L., LL.D. New York MACMILLAN AND CO. AND LONDON 1892 _All rights reserved_ COPYRIGHT, 1892, BY MACMILLAN AND CO. TYPOGRAPHY BY J. S. CUSHING & CO., BOSTON, U.S.A. PRESSWORK BY BERWICK & SMITH, BOSTON, U.S.A. CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE INTRODUCTION 1 Beauty and Happiness 3 The Love of Nature 5 Enjoyment of Scenery 14 Scenery of England 19 Foreign Scenery 21 The Aurora 33 The Seasons 34 CHAPTER II ON ANIMAL LIFE 39 Love of Animals 41 Growth and Metamorphoses 43 Rudimentary Organs 45 Modifications 48 Colour 50 Communities of Animals 57 Ants 58 CHAPTER III ON ANIMAL LIFE--_continued_ 71 Freedom of Animals 73 Sleep 78 Senses 84 Sense of Direction 93 Number of Species 96 Importance of the Smaller Animals 97 Size of Animals 100 Complexity of Animal Structure 101 Length of Life 102 On Individuality 104 Animal Immortality 112 CHAPTER IV ON PLANT LIFE 115 Structure of Flowers 128 Insects and Flowers 134 Past History of Flowers 136 Fruits and Seeds 137 Leaves 138 Aquatic Plants 144 On Hairs 148 Influence of Soil 151 On Seedlings 152 Sleep of Plants 152 Behaviour of Leaves in Rain 155 Mimicry 156 Ants and Plants 156 Insectivorous Plants 158 Movements of Plants 159 Imperfection of our Knowledge 163 CHAPTER V WOODS AND FIELDS 165