3M SIB J. LUBBOCK — PHYTOBIOLOGICAL OBSERTATIO>"S. 



On Seedlings. 



The consideration of leaves naturally led to that of Cot3']crlons. 



I had already paid some attention to the form and structure of 

 Seeds, on Avhicli I had the honour of addressing the Eoyal Insti- 

 tution in a lecture which appeared in its * Journal,' and which I 

 have since republished in the small volume already referred to. 



I have since made a further vstudy of Seeds aiid Seedlings, with 

 special reference to the characteristics presented by the cotyledons 

 and the first leaves. In this I have been greatly aided by the 

 kindness w^ith which the immense resources of Kew have been 

 placed at my disposal, and for which my grateful thanks are due 

 to Sir Joseph Hooker, Mr. Thiselton Dyer, Mr. 'W'^atson, and 

 indeed the whole staff. I have also been permitted to make 

 of the Laboratory for which Science is indebted to the liberality 

 of the late Mr. JodrelL Mr. Carruthers and the other oflEicers 

 of the British Museum have kindly aided me in various ways ; 

 Mr. Lynch has sent me some seeds from the Botanic Garden at 

 Cambridge ; and Mr, Hanbury has been good enough to supply 

 me with several seeds from his rich garden "on the Eiviera. 



JN"© one who has ever looked at seedlinf^s can fail to have been 

 struck by the contrast which the cotyledons afford, not only to 

 the final leaves, hut even to those by which they are immediately 

 followed. 



I propose to take certain plants (especially, as far as possible, 

 the commonest and most familiar), and see what light can be 

 thrown on the varied forms which their seedlings present. Look, 

 for instance at the familiar Mustard and Cress; the first (fig. 3) 

 has kidney-shaped cotyledons, one of thenTrather larger than the 

 other; while the Cress, Lepidium sativum (fig. 4), on the other 

 hand, has the cotyledons divided into three lobes. The Pink 

 (DianfJius) has (fig. 22) broad cotyledons, the Chickweed and 

 Cerastium (fig, 23) narrow ones ; those of the Bee^h (fig. 13) are 

 fan-shaped in outline ; those of the Sycamore shaped almost like 

 a knife; those of the ^sc7iscJioItzia\&g. 40) divided like a hay- 

 fork ; those of the Bean or Acorn thick and fleshy. 



Mustard and Cress were the delight and wonder of our child- 

 hood ; but at that time it never occurred, to me at least, to ask 

 why they were formed as they are, and why they diff'ered so much. 

 So they grew, and beyond that it did not occur to me, nor I think 

 to most, that it was possible to inquire. 



