So firmly are these suckers attached, that the
golden thread-like stem will break before they can be torn from
their hold.
Not a leaf now remains on the vine to tell of virtue in its
remote ancestors; the absence of green matter (chlorophyll)
testifies to dishonest methods of gaining a living (see Indian
pipe); not even a root is left after the seedling is old enough
to twine about its hard-working, respectable neighbors. Starting
out in life with apparently the best intentions, suddenly the
tender young twiner develops an appetite for strong drink and
murder combined, such as would terrify any budding criminal in
Five Points or Seven Dials! No sooner has it laid hold of its
victim and tapped it, than the now useless root and lower portion
wither away, leaving the dodder in mid-air, without any
connection with the soil below, but abundantly nourished with
juices already stored up, and even assimilated, at its host's
expense. By rapidly lengthening the cells on the outer side of
its stem more than on the inner side, the former becomes convex,
the latter concave; that is to say, a section of spiral is formed
by the new shoot, which, twining upward, devitalizes its
benefactor as it goes.
Pages:
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575
576
577
578
579
580
581
582
583
584
585
586
587
588
589
590