﻿Latent 
  Characters 
  221 
  

  

  broader 
  view 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  evolution 
  of 
  the 
  

   vegetable 
  kingdom. 
  It 
  is 
  manifest 
  that 
  highly 
  

   developed 
  plants 
  have 
  a 
  larger 
  number 
  of 
  

   characters 
  than 
  the 
  lower 
  groups. 
  These 
  

   must 
  have 
  been 
  acquired 
  in 
  some 
  way, 
  during 
  

   preceding 
  times. 
  Such 
  evolution 
  must 
  evident- 
  

   ly 
  be 
  called 
  a 
  process 
  of 
  improvement, 
  or 
  a 
  

   progressive 
  evolution. 
  Contrasted 
  to 
  this 
  is 
  the 
  

   loss, 
  or 
  the 
  latency 
  of 
  characters, 
  and 
  this 
  may 
  

   be 
  designated 
  retrogressive 
  or 
  retrograde 
  evo- 
  

   lution. 
  But 
  there 
  is 
  still 
  a 
  third 
  possibility. 
  

   For 
  a 
  latent 
  character 
  may 
  reassume 
  its 
  ac- 
  

   tivity, 
  return 
  to 
  the 
  active 
  state, 
  and 
  become 
  

   once 
  more 
  an 
  important 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  whole 
  or- 
  

   ganization. 
  This 
  process 
  may 
  be 
  designated 
  

   as 
  degressive 
  evolution; 
  it 
  obviously 
  completes 
  

   the 
  series 
  of 
  the 
  general 
  types 
  of 
  evolution. 
  

  

  Advancement 
  in 
  general 
  in 
  living 
  nature 
  de- 
  

   pends 
  on 
  progressive 
  evolution. 
  In 
  different 
  

   parts 
  of 
  the 
  vegetable 
  kingdom, 
  and 
  even 
  in 
  

   different 
  families 
  this 
  progression 
  takes 
  place 
  

   on 
  different 
  lines. 
  By 
  this 
  means 
  it 
  results 
  in 
  

   an 
  ever 
  increasing 
  divergency 
  between 
  the 
  sev- 
  

   eral 
  groups. 
  Every 
  step 
  is 
  an 
  advance, 
  and 
  

   many 
  a 
  step 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  taken 
  to 
  produce 
  

   flowering 
  plants 
  from 
  the 
  simplest 
  unicellular 
  

   algae. 
  

  

  But 
  related 
  to, 
  and 
  very 
  intimately 
  con- 
  

   nected 
  with 
  this 
  advancement 
  is 
  the 
  retr 
  ogres- 
  

  

  