202 GLIMPSES I\"rO PLAXT-IJFK 



realise that, because it possesses life, it will grow 

 on and on, and result, according to its species, 

 either in a j^lant but a few inches in height, or 

 in a grand forest-tree which may give shelter 

 to man and animals for hundreds of )-ears. 



The naked eye can scarcely trace any indica- 

 tions of form in the embryo, but when dissected 

 and examined with a lens it is seen to consist of a 

 tiny plant, root, stem and leaves (cotyledons). 



The size of the embryo in comparison with the 

 other part of the seed is a point w hich should be 

 observed. 



As the embryo develops it absorbs the special 

 nutrient or reserve tissue that exists in all ovules ; 

 a bean embryo, for example, rapid 1}' absorbs all 

 the nucellus (jf the ovule, so that at length the 

 seed-coats contains nothing but the embryo, the 

 two cotyledons of which are thick and filled with 

 stores of food for the first growth of the seed. 



I would advise students to plant a few broad 

 beans in a little damp cocoa fibre, and carefully 

 watch their growth. It is advisable to dissect 

 these beans successively at different stages, so as 

 to watch the de\'elo]jment of the radicle (root) and 



