STATING THE CASE. 19 



dicotyledo7Wtcs, and the single -lobed seeds monocoty- 

 ledonoiis. 



The sizes of seeds has little or no reference to 

 the magnitude the plant will attain unto which 

 sprouts from it. The Oak-tree does not bear larger 

 seeds than the Bean -plant; those of the Pine and 

 Poplar are not so large as those of the Pea. 



Why does any variation occur at all ? Every- 

 body knows that most seeds are eatable, such as 

 beans, peas, maize, wheat, hazel-nuts, walnuts, etc. 

 In most of them their nutritious matter is improved 

 by cooking. Even in those seeds we cannot eat — 

 such as the acorn, horse-chestnut, etc. — it is not 

 because nutritious matter is absent, but because of 

 the presence of some bitter, disagreeable, or even 

 poisonous substance diffused through the nutritious 

 store. We shall see presently that these bitter or 

 poisonous principles are protective to the seeds, and 

 prevent their being so completely eaten up by 

 hungry animals that none remain to perpetuate the 

 species. 



If we examine a common broad bean, split open, 

 we see a greenish -white object called the embryo. 

 This is the undeveloped plant which will sprout 

 from the seed under favourable conditions. It is 

 for this insignificant-looking object that, in reality, 

 all the store of nutritious matter in the two lobes has 

 been accumulated and stored away ! If we planted 

 such a bean in the soil, the first thing it would 



