Confidences Part 1

Confidences.

by Edith B. Lowry.

PREFACE

No one can come in contact with children and young people without feeling the need of a united effort on the part of the parents, physicians and teachers to lessen the immoral tendencies, with their degrading effects, to which the present generation is subjected.

Knowledge of the right sort will prevent many wrecked lives. Ignorance as to facts and to the best manner of presenting them prevents many a parent from daring to trespa.s.s upon such sacred ground, and the instruction is postponed from day to day until it is too late.

With the desire to aid mothers in giving the necessary instruction to their daughters, this little book has been written. The author has tried to tell in suitable language the facts that should be known by every girl from ten to fourteen years of age. The book is of such a character that it may be placed in the hands of the young girl, but better still it may be read aloud by the mother to her daughter. It is hoped this book will form the basis of a closer intimacy between mother and daughter, and that the knowledge herein set forth will forestall that which might be given in an entirely different spirit by the girl's companions.

CHAPTER I

THE SECRET

Listen, Violet, I am going to tell you a wonderful secret. And this wonderful secret is about your namesakes, the violets. Every little flower that grows is a living being, as you or I--and every plant is a household. How do I know this? The flowers told me themselves, and now I am going to let you into the secret.

Of course, I must admit that the flowers do not talk as we do. Unlike ourselves, they cannot express themselves aloud. They must show their thoughts by their motions or by their change of expression. When a flower is thirsty, how does it tell us so? By drooping its head and looking sad. Then, if we give it a drink, how quickly it says, "Thank you!" by lifting its head and smiling at us.

If we would have the flowers tell us their secrets, we must watch them very closely so as to be able to hear what they say. Sometimes, however, we must learn from others what the plants like, for at first, until we are better acquainted, we will not be able to understand them, and might make many mistakes; so I am going to tell you a few things today.

First, we must learn something about the flower's family, and where the flower gets its food. The flowers are a part of the plant household just the same as you or any little girl is only a part of the family. You could not very well live without the rest of the family--your father and mother, who do so many things for you and take such care of you, and your brothers and sisters, who all help to make the home happy.

The flower is like a little girl and needs some one to care for her. Do you know the other members of the plant household?

First, there are the roots, whose work it is to hold the plant in place so it will not be tossed about by every wind. The roots also must draw the water and nourishment from the ground. You know when the rain comes, it soaks into the ground and then when the plant needs water the little roots suck it out of the ground just as you could draw lemonade through a straw, for every root is supplied with many hair tubes that serve as straws. These hair tubes often are so small we could not see them without a microscope, but it is through these tiny tubes the plant receives nearly all the water it uses.

Other members of the family, the leaves, are kept busy, for they must do the breathing for the plant, as well as digest the food. You know water is never quite free from mineral matter, so when the roots draw up the water from the ground, they also draw up some mineral food for the plant which is dissolved in the water. Before the plant can make use of this food, it must be digested by the leaves, much the same as your stomach must digest the food you eat. That is, it must change it into another form. But in order that the leaves may do this, they must have plenty of chlorophyll, which is the green coloring matter of the leaves. This chlorophyll will grow in the leaves if they have plenty of sunlight, and if it does not grow the leaves will not be able to digest the food and the plant will starve. So you see how necessary it is for plants to have plenty of sunshine, and why they lose their green color and then die if they are kept away from the light. They really are starved to death.

Flowers are words Which even a babe may understand.

Bishop c.o.xe.

CHAPTER II

THE FLOWER BABIES

The flower itself has many parts, just as there are many parts to your body. When the flower is a little bud, or baby, rocked by the breezes, it is closely wrapped in a little green cloak. We call this cloak the calyx, because when it opens it looks like a cup, and the word calyx means cup. After the bud is grown, it opens its cloak and throws it back. Then we see the pretty dress underneath. We call this dress the corolla. Sometimes it is all in one piece, but often it is divided into several leaf-like parts which we call petals.

If we look within the dress or corolla, we find the real body of the flower, which is called the pistil. Its shape varies greatly in different plants, but it always consists of two or three distinct parts.

One of these is the cradle for the seeds, and is called the ovary.

At one end of the ovary is usually a little tube leading down into it.

This tube is called the style, and the opening at the other end is called the stigma. Each ovary or cradle contains one or more ovules which by and by will grow into seeds. Just outside the pistil of a flower you usually will find a row of slender, thread-like stalks, each bearing a soft, oblong body at the top, falling out of which you will see a fine yellow powder called pollen. It is a peculiar fact that these seeds never can grow into new plants unless they are fertilized, that is, unless they receive some pollen. It is another peculiar fact that although nearly every flower has this pollen growing right near the little ovules, yet they cannot be fertilized with this pollen, but must receive some from the flower of another plant family.

This pollen is carried from one plant to another by the wind or by the bees and b.u.t.terflies that come visiting in search of honey. In fact, the flower coaxes the bees and b.u.t.terflies to come so they may bring her the pollen. Soon after the seed is fertilized it is ripe; that is, it is ready to leave its cradle, the ovary. It is now ready to grow into a new plant. But before it can grow it must be put into a little nest in the ground. But the poor plant is so helpless that she is unable to prepare this nest herself, so all she can do is to scatter her seed babies out on the ground and hope some one will take pity on them and make a nice nest for them. Sometimes the wind helps her by blowing some dirt and dead leaves over them, for you know the seeds cannot grow unless they are covered nice and warm. Sometimes the children and grown people help her by preparing a nice flower-bed.

For a long time the tiny seed lies very quietly in its warm nest, and if we could peek at it we could not see it move at all, but all the time it is growing very slowly, until finally some bright day it will send up its little sprouts, and then we will see that all the time the seed was lying so quietly it was growing into a baby flower.

"So the Bluebirds have contracted, have they, for a house?

And a nest is under way for little Mr. Wren?"

"Hush, dear, hush! Be quiet, dear! quiet as a mouse.

These are weighty secrets, and we must whisper them."

Susan Coolidge.

CHAPTER III

THE BIRD BABIES

Today, Violet, I shall tell you another secret, but this time the secret is not about flowers, but about something else we love very dearly.

I intend to tell you some secrets about the birds. I wonder if you know how much they are like the flowers?

You remember, the flowers had a language which we could understand, even if they did not talk out loud. The birds, too, have a language of their own, and they can express themselves better than the flowers, for they have a sign language, and are also able to make sounds. How much we enjoy hearing the birds sing, not only because they make beautiful music, but because they are telling us how happy they are!

If birds are in pain or in trouble, their notes are quite different from when they are singing; while, if they or their little ones are in danger, they quickly send forth a note of warning. The young birds, in calling for food, make an entirely different sound, and the answer of the mother bird is a sweet lullaby. One of the ways birds express themselves in sign language is by their feathers. If they are sick, their feathers droop. When they are well and happy, their feathers seem much brighter.

In the bird family, as in the flower family, each member has a special work to do. The mother bird and the father bird work together to build the nest, but while the mother bird lays the eggs and then must sit on them for a number of days, the father bird must bring her food and water and sometimes take his turn watching the nest while the mother goes for a little exercise. The mother bird's body resembles the plant, too, for it needs fresh air, food and water. Instead of leaves to take in the air it has lungs, which not only take in the fresh air but also send out the impure air. Instead of the little rootlets to take in the food and water from the ground, the bird has a mouth, and as the bird is not fastened to the ground, but is free to fly or move about, it goes after its food.

Instead of sap, it has blood to carry the food to all parts of the body.

The birds have ovaries just the same as the flowers, and inside each ovary are a number of little seeds or ovules which by and by will grow into birdies. It takes quite a while for the ovules to ripen, just as it took quite a while for the seeds to ripen, and when they are ripe they must have a nest prepared for them, just as the flowers did. But the birds are not as helpless as the flowers, and are able to make their own nests. So when the ovules (which are called eggs when they are ripe) are ready, the parent birds select a nice place for a home.