STUDIES OF SEEDS AND SEEDLINGS 13 



3. The dependence of seedlings upon the nourishment in the 

 cotyledons. Compare the growth of entire plantlets with that of 

 plantlets deprived of one or both cotyledons. 



4. To what stage of growth will the food store of the seed, alone, 

 bring the seedling? Supply water. Exclude light; for in darkness 

 the seedling can make no new^ food. Sprout several kinds of seeds, 

 choosing a variety as regards the amount of albumen or size of the 

 embryo. Tie mosquito netting loosely over the mouth of a dish, and 

 fill the dish with water until it touches the netting, upon which place 

 the sprouted seeds with the radicles going dowai into the w'ater. 

 Report the results, and illustrate with the plants growai. 



Investigations 3 and 4 may be made at home. 



Divisions of the Vegetable Kingdom. The Course of Study- 

 One has but to draw upon his everyday observation to 

 realize how varied is the plant realm. There are such 

 diverse types as the trees and herbs that we see every- 

 where about us, the ferns, the mosses, the molds and 

 toadstools, and the seaweeds. These differ so widely 

 from one another that at first sight there seems to be 

 little upon which one could base any notion of a common 

 relationship. 



Nevertheless, the multitude of forms have been brought 

 together into comparatively few grand divisions, and close 

 study has revealed a considerable measure of agreement 

 running through the whole series. We may reasonably 

 suppose that all plants are of one stock, and that the 

 higher groups have sprung from forms resembling the 

 lower. 



In his present work the student is concerned with but 

 one type, the highest of all, that of the Flowering 

 Plants, or Phanerogams. It comprises nearly all 

 the plants of large size, and by far the greater part 

 of those which are useful to mankind — the forests, 

 the grasses, the grains, the fruits, the fiber plants, — 

 those that at present make the earth green and hab- 

 itable. 



All the lower plants of diverse sorts, from the ferns 

 downward, are termed Flowerless Plants, or Crypto- 

 gams. They are reserved for the latter part of the course. 



