and in other parts of the order Leguminosde, 265 



numerous in the plant. And will any physiologist now maintain, as 

 often has been maintained, that such structures are mere freaks of 

 nature, of no relation to or value in the life and use of the species ? 

 Though we cannot at present see the full meaning, some partial 

 gleams of it may appear, and prove good suggestions for future re- 

 searches. Probably the earthy salts, stored as we have seen in various 

 parts of the plant, may be needful for the preservation of the fertility 

 of the earth, by being regularly restored to it in the fallen leaves. 

 And when we consider the importance of lime in the economy of 

 animals, we may well admire this one of several sources by which, 

 as we now see, nature has so abundantly provided this earth in 

 that very provender on which many animals greedily feed. Has 

 any chemist ever determined the percentage of lime, and starch 

 and its derivatives, in the leguminous plants used as fodder for 

 ruminant and other animals, and the relation of such constituents 

 to the value of such food ? What are their absolute and relative 

 quantities in a truss of clover or saintfoin ? Surely questions of 

 this rational sort will have to be solved, sooner or later, in the 

 interest of scientific agriculture. Though the present is but a very 

 fragmentary contribution to the life history of the vast order of 

 leguminous plants, it is novel, and may, when further extended, 

 lead to curious and useful results. We can now perceive some of 

 the significance of these crystals. But why they should be con- 

 stantly present in certain parts of the structure of one plant or 

 group of plants, and as regularly absent from the same parts of 

 others ; why, instead of the form of shapeless precipitates, the lime 

 should occur in crystals within beautifully-organized cells, arranged 

 with exquisite regularity, we can nowise understand. Here science 

 is still in complete darkness, utterly unable to see the cause of these 

 phenomena. And if so as regards such lowly objects, we may 

 derive from them — and their number is legion — lessons of humility, 

 which should not be without use to those philosophers who believe 

 themselves able to unveil, by mere physical inquiries, the mysteries 

 of the highest creation. 



