Personality of plants

MUSIC IN THB PLANT WORLD
mony to the sounds produced by certain man*
made instruments. Art which is restricted to
workings in oil may be very pleasing but it is
also very much limited. Music which is only
interpreted on a violin or a piano falls far short
of its grandest possibilities. To certain minds,
the sighing of the wind through a Pine forest
is more exquisitely expressive than a hundred
breath-blown symphonies. When men cannot
agree as to what is music among the sounds pro-
duced by their self-created instruments, dare
they lightly ignore the many pleasing sounds
which accompany the operations of Nature?
To an American ear, Chinese singing sounds
like squealing and a Fiji concert like a vocifer-
ous boiler factory. Yet a Chinaman or a Fiji
Islander will leave our grandest operatic ef-
forts in disgust, though he may be pleased with
the preceding orchestral tunings. Where are
we to set the standard? Is it not safest to fall
back on Nature for our truest conceptions?
The real sublimity of Nature lies in her
vocalism. A soundless world would be greatly
lacking in charm. The endearing noises of the
woods and the fields often become so familiar
[in]