But it is necessary to sympathize with them, to try to look at things from their point of view, and not merely from an artistic or collector's standpoint. The romance of plant life then becomes a fascinating and engrossing pursuit. But however long one studies it, the knowledge that the wisest naturalist can ever attain to must remain a negligible quantity compared with what he does not know. Suppose a mouse happened to stray into the office of the editor of the _Times_, he might boast to his fellow-mice of his knowledge of the "higher journalism," but his opinions would not really be of very great value on the subject. However hard we study, and however much we observe and reflect upon the working of this great world of Nature, we really cannot expect to know more relatively than that little mouse. In fact, the more we think, the more humble men of heart we become, and the greater also should be our reverence for the Creator of this wonderful universe. INDEX Acacia, 108, 110, 111, 140, 179, 286 Acanthus, 369 Aconite, 231 Acorn, 256 Adansonia, 48 Adaptations (desert), 134 Afterglow, 132 Age of trees, 48 Agriculture (primitive), 149 Akocanthera, 229 Alder, 71 Alfred, 150 Algæ, 200, 202 " and Brittle Stars, 340 Alluvial flats, 210 Almond, 367 Alpine flowers, 103 " garden, 106 Ancient forests, 53 Angraecum, 79 Animals and poisons, 237 Animals and fruits, 241 Ants, 284-6 " and Centaury, 288 Antiaris, 230 Ant rice, 284 Aphanizomenon, 201 Aphis, 293 Apple, 248 Apple-blossom weevil, 294 Apple-sucker, 295 Arctic plants, 102, 104, 360 Arctic times, 104 Aristolochia, 78 Arrow poisons, 227, 229 Araucaria, 56 Arum, 78 Asclepiads, 78 Ash, 66 Asphodel, 368 Asses, 179 Associations, 26 Autumn crocus, 94 Aztecs, 126 Baboons, 247 Babylonian botanists, 37 Bacteria, 21, 85, 86, 95, 282, 328, 358 Balm of Gilead, 114 Banana, 248, 249 Barberry, 78, 183 Barley, 90, 272 Bartsia, 365 Bats, 246 Bean, 277 Bears, 247 Becquerel rays, 21 Bees, 74, 77 Bees and poppy, 303 Beetroot, 278, 280 Berries and winter, 245 Betel nut, 371 Bhang, 306 Bible plants, 366 Big Bad Lands, 133 Big trees, 58, 67 Birch, 60 Birch bark, 51 Birds, 85, 281 " and fruits, 245, 246, 256, 257 " and insects, 297 Bird's nest orchid, 329 Bishopsweed, 91 Bladderwort, 345 Blooming of weeds, 100 Bluebeard salvia, 74 Boers, 223 Boulger, 59 Box, 60 Bracken, 288 Bramble, 93, 183, 184, 248, 314 Brazil, 309 Breadfruit, 249 Breaking of meres, 201 Bridges of creepers, 319 Brigalow scrub, 112 Brier, 184 Britain (prehistoric), 144 British agriculture, 16