CHAPTER I 
ORIGIN OF PLANTS 
“*Tis a quaint thought, and yet perchance, 
Sweet blossoms, ye have sprung 
From flowers that over Eden once 
Their pristine fragrance flung.” 
‘67 N the beginning God created the heaven 
and earth. And the earth was without 
form and void; and darkness was upon the face 
of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon 
the face of the waters. And God said, Let 
there be light: and there was light!” 
There is no greater mystery than the mystery 
of creation. Nowhere is its story told more 
eloquently and more scientifically than in the 
opening words of Genesis. All the fruitage of 
centuries of research but reaffirms this ancient 
narrative. | 
In the early days of this planet, when its crust 
was scarcely hardened from the molten state, 
there reigned what might be called the age of 
water. The entire surface of the globe was cov- 
