x THE HUMAN SIDE OF PLANTS 



have even minds and souls, with which to think and 

 to worship. 



We live to-day in an age of discoveries, of awak- 

 enings. Things, seen for centuries, are suddenly 

 dawning on our realisation as facts, as truths. In 

 every branch of science, of philosophy, of religion, 

 is this so. And as each truth is newly realised and 

 is added to the store of understood things, we find 

 in the new understanding some kinship, some rela- 

 tionship to other truths. All truths point to a uni- 

 versal truth; all the divisions of nature are closely 

 akin to one another. 



In this day of discoveries there have been revela- 

 tions in every branch of science and many inven- 

 tions based on these revelations. But the greatest 

 of revelations are those which pertain to the origin, 

 purpose, and extent of life. Through all ages 

 the quest of thinking men has been for an under- 

 standing of the origin and purpose of life; in our 

 present day, above all questions of national or civic 

 action, the question of the whence and the whither 

 of our living holds the greatest interest among all 

 classes of thinking people. And it is in its fund of 

 truths pertaining to life, that Nature offers its 

 strongest invitation to the interest of mankind. 



In admitting the kinship between all the divisions 

 of nature, we acknowledge a relationship between 



