1 66 Natural Theology. 



plant itself; and thus it is easy to say, and no cloubl 

 some believe, that there is in them no purpose 

 other than the continuance of the species, if any 

 purpose at all. The cereals wheat, rye, barley, 

 Indian-corn, and rice furnish the great bulk of food 

 for the human race. We have no doubt that most 

 men will believe that they were made for this pur- 

 pose, and not that they happened to be what they 

 are, or that the primary object in importance was 

 that they might propagate their kind, and that the 

 support of animal life was no part of the plan, but 

 accidental or subsidiary. 



Yet there is much that seems to favor the theory 

 that all the machinery of fruiting is for the continu- 

 ance of species alone. If the germ fails to be fertil- 

 ized by the pollen, no sugar, nor starch, nor gluten, 

 is stored up in the seed for man. But when the 

 pollen has touched the germ, there is power of inde- 

 pendent life, and from that moment all the energies 

 of the plant are taxed to store the kernel with food ; 

 but food for what ? For whom ? For the young 

 plant, all agree. It puts in the seed the food which 

 the germ needs for its support, till its roots and 

 leaves are large enough to collect from the earth 

 and air the crude materials and elaborate them for 

 use. 



For what purpose is the starch garnered up in the 

 potato, and the sugar in the beet, the carrot, and the 

 parsnip ? We shall be told that they are stored up 

 for the plants themselves, to supply the great draft 

 made upon them in producing fruit. We cannot 



