[CJiap. VI THE INTERPRETATION OF PLANT BEHAVIOR 51 



Hood and drought, and to trees and herbs. He came to regard all these 

 objects and processes of his environment as separate entities. Before 

 he recognized their relation to one another, he had very definitely 

 related them to himself as either benevolent or malevolent. Lacking the 

 facts and the methods for testing the soundness of his ideas, he attempted 

 to explain why, without knowing how natural phenomena take place. To 

 him all natural objects appeared to be more or less human-like. Accord- 

 inglv he attributed to other animals, to plants, to the moon and other 

 inanimate objects the same abilities, motives, and emotions he recog- 

 nized within himself. In other words, he personijied them. 



The cruder forms of these explanations of physical phenomena have 

 passed, but — if we mav judge by the accounts of biological phenomena 

 in popular literature — plants and animals are still looked upon as objects 

 that can control their behavior and growth, read the future better than 

 we can, and make plans accordingly. The authors of these accounts have 

 not really progressed much beyond certain inhabitants of the West 

 Indies who still fear the "duppy" that resides in the silk-cotton tree. 

 To some of these authors there is a duppy or mystic directing spirit in 

 everv plant, while to others the will of the plant itself directs the 

 behavior. 



For example, who is not familiar with such explanatory statements as 

 these: that trees in a forest grow tall and straight because they are 

 trying to reach the light; that stems and petioles of plants growing at 

 a window bend toward the window in order to get more light; that 

 potato sprouts and stems of seedlings in a dark room grow longer in 

 search of light; that plants produce seeds in order to propagate their 

 kind, or to store food for future use or for the use of animals; that roots 

 grow deep into the soil or toward a cistern in search of water; finally, 

 that plants do this or do that particular thing in order to adapt them- 

 selves to their environment? 



Do not all these statements imply that the plant is conscious of its 

 present and future needs and strives by various means to satisfy them? 

 Whatever happens, according to this point of view, the plant is always 

 forward-looking. In this type of explanation of natural phenomena every 

 act is assumed to be purposeful. 



Alternative point of view. An alternative point of view is taken by 

 those who regard the end attained not as the purpose of the preceding 

 steps but merely as the consequence of the events or processes that 

 preceded it. Working from this point of view, the student tries to 



