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SPSS Statistics: A Practical Guide © 2023 Cengage Learning Australia Pty Limited
5th Edition
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v
BRIEF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Getting Started with SPSS Statistics
Chapter 12 Correlation
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vi Contents
CONTENTS
Guide to the text..................................................... xii
Guide to the online resources....................................xiii
Preface ................................................................. xvi
About the authors ................................................... xiv
Acknowledgements ..................................................xv
Chapter 1 Getting Started With SPSS Statistics.......................................................................... 1
1.1. Introduction................................................................................................ 1
1.1.1. Data View.......................................................................................... 1
1.1.2. Variable View..................................................................................... 2
1.2. Creating a Data File................................................................................... 3
1.3. Conclusion................................................................................................ 6
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Contents vii
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viii Contents
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Contents ix
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x Contents
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Contents xi
Chapter 12 Correlation
12.1. Purpose of Correlation........................................................................... 177
12.2. Questions We Could Answer Using Correlation........................................ 177
12.3. Illustrated Example of a Bivariate Correlation........................................... 178
12.3.1. Setting Up the SPSS Statistics Data File............................................ 179
12.3.2. Analysing the Data........................................................................ 180
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xii Contents
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Contents xiii
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xiv Contents
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144 SPSS Statistics: A Practical Guide
xv
If the relationship
As you read this text you will find a number of features in every
between the covariate
and the DV is not linear,
ANCOVA is
inappropriate.
Step-by-step instructions and annotated A Decision tree printed inside the front cover
screenshots clearly and visually explain each quickly guides you to appropriate procedures for
procedure to help students easily understand your circumstances.
how to useSPSS
10.3.2.8. SPSSStatistics
Statistics version (Part
Procedure 28. 4: Homogeneity of Variance &
the ANCOVA)
............................................................ 33
mple t Test ............................................. 33 Student ID Literacy Test Score
Variable View set up the two research variables in the study:
One Sample t TestIn................................ 34 4.3.5. Summary
............................................................ 35specify which support group each teacher
1. Support: This variable is used to
............................................................
belongs to. 36 In this example, the t test was statis
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Learning. All Rights Reserved. 76 in whole or in part. WCN 02-300
............................................................ 36
2. Attitude: This is the dependent variable. It contains the Attitude Towards (or difference between the sample m
ormality) ...............................................
Mainstreaming Scale scores (out of 3618) for each teacher. 2 63
xvi
INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL
The Instructor’s manual includes:
• Author’s guide to the resources
• Practice exercises with solutions
• Practice exercise worksheets and matching datasets
• Revision quizzes
POWERPOINT™ PRESENTATIONS
Use the chapter-by-chapter PowerPoint slides to enhance your lecture presentations and handouts by
reinforcing the key principles of your subject.
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Preface xvii
PREFACE
IBM SPSS Statistics is a flexible set of data analytic tools used throughout many disciplines. Its roots can be
traced back as far as 1968, when a small group of Stanford University doctoral students began developing the
Statistical Package for the Social Sciences in response to their own need for a software system that would allow
them to efficiently analyse the large amounts of data they were amassing at that time.
This program quickly grew beyond the cloistered confines of Stanford, with the publication of the first user
manual in 1970. SPSS Statistics: A Practical Guide continues this long tradition of opening statistical analysis up
to students and early career researchers from a wide range of applied and academic disciplines. We hope you
find it useful!
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xviii Preface
Chapters 1 to 3 introduce new users to the SPSS Statistics interface, and to some of the many ways SPSS
Statistics can be used to manipulate, summarise and display data. Chapters 4 to 17 are dedicated to specific
inferential procedures, including:
• t tests (one sample; independent samples; and paired samples).
• Analysis of variance (one-way and factorial; between groups, repeated measures and mixed).
• Analysis of covariance.
• Multivariate analysis of variance.
• Bivariate and partial correlation.
• Multiple regression (both standard and hierarchical).
• Logistic regression (focusing on binary logistic regression).
• Factor analysis.
• Reliability analysis.
• Non-parametric alternatives (including chi-square tests for goodness of fit and contingencies;
Mann-Whitney’s U; McNemar’s test of change; Wilcoxon’s signed rank test; the Kruskal-Wallis
ANOVA; the Friedman ANOVA; Cramer’s V; Spearman’s rho; and Kendall’s tau-b).
Within each of these chapters, we outline the purpose of the test(s), and illustrate the types of research
questions they can be used to address. We then step the reader through one or more illustrated examples,
from initial assumption testing through to follow-up analyses and effect-size estimation. Each example then
concludes with an annotated APA (American Psychological Association) style results section, demonstrating
exactly how research findings can be clearly communicated in reports, assignments and poster presentations.
All the examples and research findings discussed in this text are for illustrative purposes only. The datasets have
been created by the authors and are not based on actual research studies.
Finally, Chapter 18 looks at the use of SPSS Statistics command syntax, and the flexibility and efficiencies
it can offer more advanced users.
Happy analysing!
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About the authors xix
was in the Discipline of Psychology, Murdoch University, and the Telethon Kids Institute,
University of Western Australia, at varying parts of the authorship of this edition. Brody thoroughly enjoys
research involving quantitative scale development and refinement through psychometric studies. He also has
an interest positive psychology research, specifically in how it can be relevant for younger people in school, and
how this can help them work through the challenges they encounter.
is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychological Science at the University of Bristol in the
United Kingdom. Prior to this he was a Lecturer in the School of Psychology and Speech Pathology at Curtin
University. Peter has over 15 years of experience teaching research methods and statistics to undergraduate
students. His research interests include evidence-based learning and teaching, with a particular emphasis on
the development of statistical decision-making skills.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The publisher and authors would like to thank the academics who reviewed original chapters of this text and
provided feedback, including Lynne Roberts and Nick Barrett, Curtin University; and all the students and
colleagues who provided feedback on the previous version of this text including Harold Hill, University of
Wollongong; Einar Thorsteinsson, University of New England and others.
PROVIDING FEEDBACK
Your feedback is important, and helps us continue developing and improving on subsequent editions of this
text. Please do let us know if you notice any errors or omissions in this text, or if there are SPSS Statistics
procedures or pedagogic features you would like to see included in future editions. You can contact us at anz.
customerservice@cengage.com.
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Chapter 1: Getting Started With SPSS Statistics
Chapter Overview
1.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1
1.1.1. Data View ......................................................................................................... 1
1.1.2. Variable View ..................................................................................................... 2
1.2. Creating a Data File.................................................................................................... 3
1.3. Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 6
1.1. Introduction
This chapter has two purposes: (a) to introduce the SPSS Statistics Data
Editor; and (b) to step you through the process of setting up a simple SPSS
Statistics data file.
The drop-down menus provide access These shortcut buttons provide quick access to a number of
to the full range of options and commonly performed operations (such as Open, Save, Print and
analyses available in SPSS Statistics. Find). Hover your mouse cursor over each for further information.
: Link:
The Data Editor is
just one component
of the SPSS Statistics
working environment.
Other components
discussed in this book
include:
• Viewer is used in
chapter 3 (section
3.2.1.3)
• Pivot Table Editor
is used in chapter 3
(section 3.2.1.3)
• Chart Editor is used
in chapter 3 (section
3.4.1.3)
• Syntax Editor is
used in chapter 18
Toggle between the Data View and the (section 18.2.2)
Variable View with these tabs.
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2 SPSS Statistics: A Practical Guide
i Tip: In the Variable View, the characteristics of each variable in the data file are
Work in rows in the defined. These characteristics are:
Variable View, where
each row defines one Name. The variable name that will appear at the top of each column in the Data
variable in your SPSS View. It cannot contain spaces or any special characters, and cannot start with a
Statistics data file. number.
Type. SPSS Statistics can handle several types of data. In most circumstances,
the default – Numeric – should be selected.
i Tip: Width. The default width is “8”, and will be fine in most instances.
Interval and ratio data
Decimals. Specifies the number of decimal points displayed in the Data View.
(which are both
referred to as Scale
Label. Used to add a more detailed description of the variable, not subject to the
data in SPSS
limitations imposed on variable Names.
Statistics) have the
properties we tend to
Values. Used to define Value Labels for the codes used to represent levels of
associate with “real
categorical variables.
numbers”.
Missing. Used to specify the numeric codes that represent missing data.
Ordinal data can be
ranked (i.e., an
Columns. The number of characters/numbers displayed in each column in the
ordinal scale has
Data View.
magnitude), but they
lack any other
Align. Used to specify whether the variable is Left, Right or Center aligned in
numeric properties.
the Data View.
Nominal data are
Measure. Used to specify whether the variable is Scale, Ordinal or Nominal.
categorical, and the
SPSS Statistics does not discriminate between interval and ratio data. It refers to
values we assign to
them both as Scale data.
levels of a nominal
variable are nothing
Role. Used to set predefined roles for variables, so they can be automatically
more than shorthand
sorted into appropriate lists in selected SPSS Statistics dialogues. As many
labels. They have no
dialogues do not yet support roles, the default option (Input) will usually be fine.
true numeric
See the Tip in Section 1.2 for more information.
properties.
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Chapter 1: Getting Started With SPSS Statistics 3
Participant 1 Participant 2
1. Gender: Male c Female c (Please tick) 1. Gender: Male c Female c (Please tick)
On a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly On a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly
agree), please indicate the extent to which you agree agree), please indicate the extent to which you agree
with each of the following statements: with each of the following statements:
SD 1 2 3 4 5 SA SD 1 2 3 4 5 SA
5. It is easy to get good grades in my course. 5. It is easy to get good grades in my course.
SD 1 2 3 4 5 SA SD 1 2 3 4 5 SA
Thanks for completing our survey! Thanks for completing our survey!
Participant 3 Participant 4
1. Gender: Male c Female c (Please tick) 1. Gender: Male c Female c (Please tick)
On a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly On a scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly
agree), please indicate the extent to which you agree agree), please indicate the extent to which you agree
with each of the following statements: with each of the following statements:
SD 1 2 3 4 5 SA SD 1 2 3 4 5 SA
5. It is easy to get good grades in my course. 5. It is easy to get good grades in my course.
SD 1 2 3 4 5 SA SD 1 2 3 4 5 SA
Thanks for completing our survey! Thanks for completing our survey!
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4 SPSS Statistics: A Practical Guide
Table 1.1
ID Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5
5 Female 20 Physiotherapy 4 4
6 Female 21 Psychology 3 3
7 Female 19 Speech Therapy 3 2
8 Male 18 Speech Therapy 2 1
9 Male 19 Nursing 3 3
10 Female 21 Public Health 5 4
11 Female 24 Occupational Therapy 4 3
12 Female 17 Occupational Therapy 1 1
13 Female 38 Nursing 3 3
14 Male 19 Occupational Therapy 4 5
15 Female 18 Occupational Therapy 5 4
Begin in the Variable View by defining Click on a Measure cell, Click on a Role cell to
each variable. We will need six rows: and select the select from the six
one for each of our five questions, plus appropriate available roles.
i Tip: a sixth – ID – to help us keep track of measurement
Some dialogues in our participants. scale from the The default variable
SPSS Statistics 28 drop-down Role is Input. In most
support Roles. Work in rows, defining one variable at a menu. instances this does not
time. need to be changed.
When you use one of
these dialogues, your
variables will be
automatically sorted
into lists according to
their defined roles.
Input. Should be
selected for predictor
or independent
variables.
Target. Should be
selected for output or
dependent variables.
Both. Should be
selected for variables
that will be used as
both predictor and All our data are Numeric. We The Values (or codes) that we use to
output variables. will use numbers to represent represent the levels of each categorical
the different categories of variable are defined here. They are
None. Should be gender and course of study. discussed in greater detail overleaf.
selected for variables
that you do not want
to assign a specific
role to.
Partition. Used to
partition the data file
into separate samples.
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Chapter 1: Getting Started With SPSS Statistics 5
Value Labels
Here, we have used the values “1” through “7” to represent the seven courses that our student participants are enrolled in.
Missing Values
At the simplest level, we can use one numeric code to represent all
types of missing data. Or, we can discriminate between different sorts i Tip:
of missing data (e.g., questions that participants refused to answer, If you ever need to
versus questions which were missed due to equipment failure) by discriminate between
specifying up to three unique Missing Values codes. more than three types
of missing data, you
You can use any numeric code(s) to represent missing data, provided can select Range
they are outside the range of your actual data. You can also use plus one optional
different codes on each variable, or the same code(s) throughout the discrete missing
entire data file. value and enter a
range of values you
We’ve selected “9” as our Missing Values code because it can’t be confused with “real” data on any of our research want SPSS Statistics
variables. (For example, none of our participants will have a gender of “9”, or will have responded with “9” to any of our 5- to treat as “missing”.
point rating scales.)
The Missing Values dialogue is accessed by selecting a cell under Missing in the Variable View, then clicking the
button. Missing Values codes must be specified separately for each variable.
After defining each variable, you can begin typing in data. In the Data View, each row represents a
case (e.g., a participant). For example, row 3 contains the data provided by participant 3, an 18-year-
old Occupational Therapy student.
Participant 2 did not Use the value codes specified in Value Labels to indicate which course
provide his age, so our (and gender) category each participant belongs to.
Missing Values code, “9”,
has been entered instead. You can toggle between displaying values or value labels by clicking
the Value Labels
button on the shortcut toolbar:
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6 SPSS Statistics: A Practical Guide
1.3. Conclusion
With the data saved, we can begin working with it, summarising it and
displaying it. These are the topics covered in chapters 2 and 3.
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Chapter 2: Working With Data
Chapter Overview
2.1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 7
2.2. Compute................................................................................................................... 8
2.2.1. Illustrated Example of Summed Scale Scores ......................................................... 8
2.3. Recode ..................................................................................................................... 9
2.3.1. Illustrated Example of Category Recoding ............................................................ 10
2.4. Missing Value Analysis .............................................................................................. 12
2.4.1. Illustrated Example of Missing Age Data Replacement ........................................... 12
2.5. Split File ................................................................................................................. 14
2.5.1. Illustrated Example of Splitting Output by Gender................................................. 14
2.6. Select Cases............................................................................................................ 17
2.6.1. Illustrated Example of Selecting Cases Above a Specified Age ................................ 17
2.7. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 18
2.1. Introduction
In chapter 1 we described a short survey used to collect some demographic
and course satisfaction data from 15 Health Sciences students. In the current
chapter, we will continue using this data to illustrate how a data file can be
manipulated in SPSS Statistics.
Table 2.1
Data Collected From 15 Participants With “A Quick Student Satisfaction ¾ Try It Out:
This is data file
Survey” data_2_1.sav.
a b
ID Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5
Note. Q1 = Gender; Q2 = Age; Q3 = Course of study; Q4 = I am enjoying my course (from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly
agree); Q5 = It is easy to get good marks in my course (from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree).
a
Value labels for gender are 1 = male; 2 = female.
b
Value labels for course of study are 1 = Psychology; 2 = Speech Therapy; 3 = Physiotherapy; 4 = Occupational Therapy;
5 = Nursing; 6 = Public Health; 7 = Biomedical Sciences.
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8 SPSS Statistics: A Practical Guide
¾ Try It Out:
Run these analyses
2.2. Compute
with
syntax_2_1.sps.
Compute Variable allows you to create a new variable from one or more
existing variables. You can also use it to alter an existing variable.
: Link:
Compute Variable
is used in chapter 6
(section 6.3.2.2) to
create a difference
scores variable.
1
In the Transform menu,
select Compute Variable.
2
Give the new
variable a Name
in the Target
Variable box.
3
In the Type &
i Tip: Label dialogue,
enter a more
SPSS Statistics informative Label
includes many for the new
functions that can be variable (e.g.,
used to compute new course
variables. satisfaction).
To access these
functions, select a
Function group and
then choose from the
options available in 4
Build the
the Functions and
Numeric
Special Variables Expression that
list. will be used to
calculate values
When a selection is on the new
made, the function’s
variable. Here:
description is provided
in the space to the (Enjoy + Easy) / 2
right of the variable
list. (Enjoy and Easy
are the Names of
If the selected the variables 5
function meets your being averaged.) Clicking the If button opens the If Cases
requirements, it can dialogue, in which you can specify which cases the
be moved into the Type directly into Numeric Expression should be applied to.
Numeric Expression the Numeric
box with the For example, the conditional statement “Gender =
Expression box,
arrow button: or build the 1” would apply the “(Enjoy + Easy) / 2” expression
6
expression using to the male cases only. Click OK to
the keypad, arrow create the new
button and For our purposes though, we will calculate a variable.
variable list. satisfaction score for every case in our data file.
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Chapter 2: Working With Data 9
Then:
Satisfaction = (4 + 3) / 2
Satisfaction = 3.5
2.3. Recode
With Recode you can change specific values or ranges of values on one or
more variables. This feature can be used to:
We could merge the courses into two categories – those that require new
enrollees to have studied high-school human biology, and those that
don’t.
e. Bring outliers and extreme scores closer to the rest of the distribution.
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Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The plant called “life everlasting” is one which grows in dry, open,
sunny places. It clothes its leaves with silky hairs, and so prevents
them from throwing off too quickly the small amount of water its roots
are able to provide. Without this silky coat, the sun would suck its
leaves quite dry of water.
Sometimes a leaf has only a few of the little leaf mouths through
which most of the water passes. As these mouths are wide open
only in the sunlight, and as often the rest of the leaf is covered with a
thick skin which prevents the water from slipping away (as a little of it
nearly always does) through the cell walls, such a leaf will hold its
water supply and keep fresh for a long time. Such leaves as these
we find on what we call “evergreen” plants. The pines and hemlocks
which light up the woods all winter have these thick-skinned, few-
mouthed leaves, which throw off so little water that even when the
ground is frozen hard, and gives no drinking water to the roots, they
are able to keep fresh by the careful way in which each one hoards
its own little supply.
WOOLLY AND “DUSTY” LEAVES
C URIOUSLY enough, some plants put on a hairy coat for just the
opposite reason from the one which makes life everlasting
clothe itself in that fashion. Life everlasting fears lest its leaves throw
off their water, or perspire too quickly.
Down by the stream that runs through the meadow grow great
clusters of the pink-flowered steeple bush. If you look at the lower
sides of the leaves of the steeple bush, you see that they are very
woolly. As this wool is not between the sun and the leaf blade, it
cannot be meant to protect the leaves from the heat of the sun; and
indeed in this wet meadow, close to the river, never mind how quickly
the leaves throw off their water, the roots can have no difficulty in
finding close by more than enough to make good the loss. No, the
fact is that these leaves need to throw off water very freely indeed to
make room for the ever-fresh supply that is pushing up the stem, and
their woolly covering is intended to help them do this very thing. Its
object is to aid perspiration. In swampy places the moisture rises
every night from the wet ground, and settles on the plants about. The
little mouths on the under surfaces of the leaves of the steeple bush
would soon be clogged with the moisture rising from below, if they
were not protected in some way; and if they became so clogged,
they could not throw off the water with which the whole plant is
charged. Thus, by having this thick coat of hair, the water that
otherwise would cling to the outer surface of the leaf blade is kept at
a distance from the little mouths, and these are not interrupted in the
performance of a duty so necessary to the health of the plant.
This same habit of coating its lower leaf surfaces with hair, you
notice in the speckled or swamp alder, a shrub which grows also in
wet places, and therefore runs the same risk of having its leaf
mouths clogged with water.
So when you see only the upper surface of a leaf covered with
hair, you can guess that the object of the plant is to prevent too much
perspiration; but when you see only its lower side clothed in this
same way, you can guess that the plant fears too little perspiration.
Sometimes you find a plant with leaves which have a coating of
what looks almost like dust on one or both of their surfaces. This
dust we call “bloom.” We see it in apples and grapes, as well as on
leaves. It is made up of a waxy material which is put forth by the
plant just as it puts forth hair. This bloom the plant uses also as a
help to free perspiration. By thus clothing its leaves it shields the little
mouths from water clogging; and so you can be sure that the little
mouths have not been filled with water, and thus prevented from
doing their work.
The cabbage leaf has mouths on both of its surfaces, and so both
sides are covered with this protecting bloom. If you dip a cabbage
leaf in water and then shake it, the drops roll off and leave it quite
dry.
PRICKLES AND POISON
H AVE you ever seen a leaf like the one in this picture (Fig. 152)?
It is shaped something like a pitcher; and the plant on which it
grows has been named the “pitcher plant.”
Fig. 152
The pitcher plant lives in low, wet place, such as the shaded
swamp, or the marsh down by the lake.
On account of its curious leaves it is brought to the cities, and is
sold on the street corners or at the florists’.
In June comes the great flower of the pitcher plant. Sometimes
this is a dull red; again it is a delicate pink or perhaps a light green;
and it has faint, pleasant fragrance.
Next June I hope that some of you children will find these beautiful
flowers and these curious leaves.
Why should a leaf be shaped like a pitcher, do you suppose?
These leaves are not only pitcher-like in shape, but also in their
way of holding water; for if you succeed in discovering a settlement
of pitcher plants, you will find that nearly every pitcher is partly filled
with rain water. Usually this water is far from clear. It appears to hold
the remains of drowned insects; and sometimes the odor arising
from a collection of these pitcher plants is not exactly pleasant.
Perhaps you wonder how it happens that dead insects are found
in every one of these pitchers; and possibly you will be surprised to
learn that apparently these curious leaves are built for the express
purpose of capturing insects.
It is easy to understand that these odd leaves are not so well fitted
as more simple ones to cook the plant’s food in the sun, or to take
carbon from the air; but if they are unfitted to provide and prepare
ordinary food, possibly they are designed to secure food that is
extraordinary.
It seems likely that the pitcher plant is not content to live, like other
plants, upon the simple food that is taken in from the earth and from
the air. We are led to believe that it wishes something more
substantial; that it needs a meat diet; and that to secure this, it
teaches its leaves to capture flies and insects in order that it may
suck in their juices.
These leaves are veined in a curious and striking fashion. The
bright-colored veins may convince the insects of the presence of the
sweet nectar in which they delight. At all events, in some way they
are tempted to enter the hollow leaf; and, once they have crawled or
tumbled down its slippery inner surface, they find it impossible to
crawl back again, owing to the stiff hairs, pointing downward, which
line the upper part of the pitcher.
Even if they have wings, it is difficult for them to fly upward in so
straight a line as would be necessary to effect their escape.
When tired out in their efforts to get out of this cruel trap, they fall
into the water at the bottom of the pitcher, and are drowned. Their
bodies decay and dissolve; and it is thought that this solution is
taken in by the leaf, and turned over to the plant as food.
It is just the old, sad story of the spider and the fly, you see, only
now it is the pitcher and the fly.
But be sure to examine one of these pitchers if you possibly can,
and then you will understand better how the whole thing is managed.
The leaf in this picture (Fig. 153), for it is a leaf, you cannot find in
our North American swamps. It grows on a plant called Nepenthes, a
plant which lives in hot countries far from the United States.
Fig. 153
The leaf in the picture is full grown, and all ready for its work of
trapping animals. Before it was old enough to do this, the lid which is
now lifted was laid nicely across the opening to the pocket, and so
prevented any unseasonable visits.
Sometimes these pockets are so large as to be able to hold and to
hide from sight a pigeon. They are gayly colored, and the rim around
their border is covered with a sugary, tempting juice. So you can
guess that the animals in search of nectar are not slow in accepting
the invitation offered by color and sweets, and that some of these
are imprudent enough to venture across the sticky edge. In this
event they are pretty sure to lose their footing on the slippery inner
surface of the pocket, and to fall into the watery liquid with which it is
filled. Even if they do not slip immediately, their efforts to crawl back
over the rim are defeated by a row of teeth such as you see in the
picture.
The liquid at the bottom of the leaf is not rain water, as in the
pitcher plant. It is given out by the leaf itself; and it contains an acid
which dissolves the animals’ bodies, so that their more nourishing
parts can easily be taken in by certain little cells which line the lower
part of the pocket, and which have been brought up to this work.
Fig. 154
The next picture (Fig. 154) shows you a water plant. It is called the
“bladderwort,” because of the little bags or bladders which you see
growing from the branches under water. The little bladders are traps
set for water animals, which swim into them in their wish, perhaps, to
escape some enemy. But they are quite unable to swim out again;
for the door into the bladder is transparent, and looks like an open
entrance with a nice hiding place beyond. It opens easily from the
outside, but is so arranged that it will not open from within. So when
the poor little animal hurriedly swims into what seems to it a cozy
resting spot, and draws a long breath of relief at getting safe inside, it
is hopelessly caught, and must slowly starve to death, for there is no
chance of escape. It may live for nearly a week in this prison; but at
last it dies. Its body decays, and is taken in as food by the cells set
apart for that purpose.
Strangely enough, though we ourselves do not hesitate to kill
animals for food, and sometimes, I am sorry to say, for nothing but
amusement, we give a little shiver of disgust when we find these
plants doing the same thing. Some lines that came out in one of the
magazines a few years ago express this feeling:—
Fig. 155
You see that the upper, rounded part of the leaf is divided by a rib
into two halves. From the edges of these rounded halves run out a
number of long, sharp teeth; and three stout bristles stand out from
the central part of each half. When an insect alights upon this
horrible leaf, the two halves come suddenly together, and the teeth
which fringe their edges are locked into one another like the fingers
of clasped hands.
The poor body that is caught in this cruel trap is crushed to pieces.
Certain cells in the leaf then send out an acid in which it is dissolved,
and other cells swallow the solution.
After this performance the leaf remains closed for from one to
three weeks. When finally it reopens, the insect’s body has
disappeared, and the trap is set and ready for another victim.
The next picture (Fig. 156) shows you a little plant which is very
common in our swamps,—so common that some of you ought to find
it without difficulty next summer, and try upon it some experiments of
your own.
Fig. 156
But the ants and flies do not take these drops for dew. They
believe them to be the sweet nectar for which they long, and they
climb or light upon the leaves in this belief.
And then what happens?
The next two pictures will show you (Figs. 158, 159).
Fig. 158
Fig. 159
The red hairs close slowly but surely over the insect whose legs
are already caught and held fast by the sticky drops it mistook for
nectar, and they hold it imprisoned till it dies and its juices are
sucked in by the leaf.
I should like you to satisfy yourselves that these leaves act in the
way I have described. But a bit of fresh meat will excite the red hairs
to do their work quite as well as an insect, and I hope in your
experiments you will be merciful as well as inquiring.
So you see that the little sundew is quite as cruel in its way as the
other insect-eating plants. But its gentle looks seem to have
deceived the poet Swinburne, who wonders how and what these
little plants feel, whether like ourselves they love life and air and
sunshine.
Y OU know that in autumn nearly all the leaves fall from the trees.
To be sure, a few trees (such as the pines and hemlocks) and
some plants (such as the laurel and wintergreen and partridge vine)
do hold fast their leaves all winter; but these are so few as compared
with the many plants which lose their leaves, that they hardly count.
Perhaps you never stopped to wonder why most plants get rid of
their leaves before winter comes on; but you feel pretty sure now
that there is some good reason for a habit that is adopted by nearly
all the plants that live in this part of the country.
When we were talking about the way in which leaves defend
themselves from different dangers, we found that evergreen leaves,
the leaves which hold fast to the tree and keep fresh all winter,
manage to keep their water safe inside their cells by wearing a very
thick skin, and by not having too many little leaf mouths. For when a
leaf has a thin skin and a great many mouths, its water leaks away
very quickly. And if many such leaves should remain upon a plant
into the winter, might it not happen that they would let off all its water
at a time when its roots could not find any more in the frozen
ground? And thus might not the leaves kill the plant by draining it
quite dry?
So you can see why it is well for most plants to shed their leaves
before winter comes on and the root’s drinking water is turned into
ice.
But when a plant is about to shed its leaves, it takes care not to
waste the precious food which they hold. This food it draws back into
its stem and roots, laying it away in safe places beneath the buds
which are to burst another year.
It is this action on the part of the plant which changes the color of
the leaves every fall. That material which makes them green is
broken up, and part of it is taken away. That which is left is usually
yellow or brown or reddish, and gives the leaves the beautiful colors
we see in our October woods.
So whenever you see the woods changing color, losing their fresh
green and turning red and yellow, you can be sure that the trees
have begun to prepare for winter. You know that they are stowing
away their food in warmer, safer places than can be supplied by the
delicate leaves. And when all the food has been drawn out of the
leaves, and packed away in the right spots, then the plant finishes a
piece of work it began some time before. This piece of work is the
building-up of a row of little cells just where the leafstalk joins the
stem or branch. When this row is complete, it acts almost like a
knife, loosening the stalk from the stem.
Then the leaf’s life work is over; and with the first breeze, the
empty shell, which is all that is left, breaks away from the parent
plant, and drifts earthward.
Part VI—Flowers
Fig. 160
Fig. 161
Here you have the plan on which the cherry blossom is built (for
flowers, like houses, are built on different plans), and the building
plan of the cherry blossom is one of the simplest of all. So it is well,
before studying more difficult flowers, to feel quite at home with this
one. And you must try to remember first what work each part of the
flower is expected to perform; for you see that the leaves of the
green cup, the pretty white leaves, the pins with dust boxes, and the
pin with a seedbox, have each and all their special task,—a task
which they alone are able to accomplish.
Now, in talking about a flower it is troublesome to use a great
many words where one would answer every purpose, so I will tell
you what these different parts of the flower have been named; and
by taking a little trouble to remember these names, we can save a
good deal of time.
The green cup is called the “calyx.”
“Calyx” is a Greek word meaning “cup.”
The circle of leaves which grow above the green cup or calyx is
called the “corolla.”
“Corolla” comes from a word which means “crown.”
The pins with dust boxes are called “stamens.”
“Stamen” comes from a word meaning “to stand.”
The pin with a seedbox is called the “pistil.”
“Pistil” is another form of the word “pestle.” A pestle is an
instrument used in the drug shops for pounding and mixing
medicines. You might ask to look at one the next time you are sent to
the drug shop, and then you can see for yourselves if it really looks
like its namesake, the pin with a seedbox.
Perhaps at first you may find it a little difficult to bear in mind these
four words with their meanings; but soon they will become quite
easy, and will save you much trouble.
Green cup,—calyx.
Circle of flower leaves,—corolla.
Pins with dust boxes,—stamens.
Pin with seedbox,—pistil.
If you remember the names of these four parts of the flower, how
the different parts look, and what they do, you will have made a good
start in the study of flowers.