Personality of plants

MUSIC IN THE PLANT WORLD
tening to the wind sigh through the Reeds on
the shore of a lake. The first stringed instrument
was probably a fibre accidentally stretched
across a hollow shell. The classic Aeolian harp
consisted of a wooden frame containing a thin
sounding-board over which were stretched a
number of strips of cat-gut. If placed before
a half-open window so that an air current
strikes it sideways, it gives forth a great volume
of harmonious notes in several octaves. This
is a clear case of catching the music of the wind.
In a cruder, less harmonious way, the Japa-
nese glass tinklers of our day do the same thing.
The humming of telegraph wires and the
strange chirping of a wireless instrument are
also a kind of singing.
All the plants are not expert musicians,
which explains why they often seek to make
up for their own deficiencies by hiring numerous
birds and insects to make melody for them.
These musicians are employed in the truest
sense of the word and receive their pay in food,
shelter and protection. In the air and on the
ground, by day and by night, they sing and fid-
dle for their hosts. The broad leaves of the
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