n PREFACE. 



well as Professor Sachs,* attributes all the movements 

 of tendrils to rapid growth along one side ; but, from 

 reasons assigned towards the close of my fourth 

 chapter, I cannot persuade myself that this holds 

 good with respect to those due to a touch. In order 

 that the reader may know what points have interested 

 me most, I may call his attention to certain tendril- 

 bearing plants ; for instance, Bignonia capreolata, 

 Cobsea, Echinocystis, and Hanburya, which display 

 as beautiful adaptations as can be found in any part 

 of the kingdom of nature. It is, also, an interesting 

 fact that intermediate states between organs fitted for 

 widely different functions, may be observed on the 

 same individual plant of Corydalis claviculata and 

 the common vine; and these cases illustrate in a 

 striking manner the principle of the gradual evolu- 

 tion of species. 



* An English translation of of 'Text-Book of Botany,' and this 



the * Lehrbuch der Botanik 'by is a great boon to all lovers of 



Professor Sachs, has recently natural science in England. 

 (1875), appeared under the title 



