65 



Paley in his Natural Theology brings forward the 

 Mistletoe as a singular instance of what he terms "compensa- 

 tion" in his argument to prove the desi-n and contrivance of 

 nature, that inasmuch as its seeds could not grow in the earth 

 like those of other plants, nature has provided them with an 

 adhesive property, which no other seeds have, to enable them 

 to stick to the tree on which they do grow. 



The following observations on the mode of growth of the 

 young plant are taken from a paper by Dr. John Hakley, on the 

 "Parasitism of the Mistletoe," which was read before the 

 Linnean Society, in March 1863. This paper contains a very 

 careful and elaborate investigation into the anatomical relation 

 of the Mistletoe to the plants on which it grows, and draws 

 some very interesting conclusions as to their physiological rela- 

 tions to each other. 



"The Mistletoe attaches itself to the nourishing plants, 

 by roots, some of which are horizontal and confined to the bark, 

 while the others are contained within the wood. Hknslow, 

 Griffith, Ungek, Schacht, and Pitra, all agree in the follow- 

 ing particulars : — The young plant first sends into the bark of 

 the nourishing plant a single root, sucker, or scnker, which, 

 pressing inwards, comes into perpendicular relation to the wood 

 of the nourishing plant, in the cambial layer of which the point 

 rests, and there ceases to grow. In its passage towards the 

 wood, it gives off several horizontal or side roots, which run 

 along the branch in the bark, or upon the surface of the wood. 

 These side roots give origin to perpendicular suckers, which 

 come into contact, like the original root, with the surface of the 

 wood." "The wood and bark of the mother plant, in their periodi- 

 cal increase, form layers around the suckers, which grow in ex- 

 actly the same manner in the cambial stratum." (Pitra) and thus 

 the hardened suckers come to be imbedded in the body of the 

 wood. "Dr. Haelex: goes on to state, amongst many other in- 

 teresting particulars relating to the growth of the plant ; that 

 their perpendicular roots arc tapering, diminishing in size fi'om 



