Before people had individual names, the savage people who lived in clans or tribes referred to themselves in the name of some natural object, usually an animal which they assumed as the name or emblem of the clan or tribe. These names never applied to one individual more than another, but only to the clan or tribe, so that everyone in a tribe which had taken the “wolf” for its emblem was known as “Wolf.” Later on they began to distinguish individuals by giving them additional names characteristic of the individual, such as “Lonely Wolf,” “Growling Wolf,” or other names. The name of this animal was then the emblem of one tribe. They, therefore, placed this emblem upon their bodies, their clothes, utensils, etc. Through this, these emblems also became at times idols of worship and so they erected poles upon which their emblems were engraved. The word totem is a North American Indian word meaning “family token.” The tribes called themselves after animals from which they believed themselves descended. Where Does a Flower Get Its Perfume? The perfume or smell of the flower comes from within the plant itself. The perfume arises from an oil which the plant makes, and just as there are many kinds of flowers, so almost every flower has a different smell. Of course, flowers belonging to the same family or species are likely to develop different smells. The oils produced are what are known as the volatile oils, which means “flying oils,” because, if extracted from the flower and placed in a bottle and the cork left out, they will vanish into the air. Without this quality we could not, of course, smell them at all. Why Do Flowers Have Perfumes? Man uses these oils to provide himself with perfumes, but the plant or flower has another purpose than this. The perfume is not made for man’s use, but for the use of the plant itself. In the plant and flower world the smell of the plant which is in the flower is a part of the scheme whereby plants reproduce themselves. Every plant in order to reproduce itself must produce a seed. The flowers are in most cases the advance agent of the coming seed. Each flower produces within itself a little powder called the pollen, but as plants are like people--also male and female--they are dependent upon each other for the production of a perfect seed. Some of the pollen from the male plant must be mixed with the pollen of the female plant before a perfect seed results. How Do Flowers Produce Seeds?