HIDDEN WONDERS. 69 



plexing passages to be found there. With 

 the exception of the first essay, they do not 

 deal with nutrition or microscopic structure, 

 and in lieu of a better opportunity we may 

 now say a word in regard to this microscopic 

 feature of botany. In the hands of the bot- 

 anist the compound microscope reveals a 

 wonderland in the interior of every plant. 

 It uncovers the framework of every organ, 

 and reveals a complicated structure of cells, 

 vessels, and fibres. It opens the tiny ceUs 

 themselves and discloses in each a chemical 

 laboratory, replete with implements and ma- 

 terials for the manfacture of starch, sugars, 

 acids, and leaf-green, and numerous other 

 needs of the growing plant for the making 

 of cells and the ripening of fruits. It ex- 

 hibits beautiful forms of various substances, 

 sharply angled crystals, and materials in mo- 

 tion. It explains many of the mysteries of 

 the multiform protoplasm which is necessary 

 to the life of each individual cell. The mi- 

 croscope gives us a clew to the relations of 

 plants to their surroundings and to the ani- 

 mal world. All this minute study, though 

 laden with deepest interest and full of mean- 

 ing, is recondite and entirely foreign to the 

 purpose of this little volume. 



