NEW ENGLAND 239 



but are plastic, and amenable to the influences 

 of their environments. 



But I had not before understood to what an 

 extent species of every kind all about us vary, 

 and what possibilities of modification of exist- 

 ing forms are contingent on such variations. 

 From that hour plant life presented to me a sort 

 of challenge to test its capacities, to investigate 

 its traits, to invent new ideals of growth and to 

 endeavor to mold the plant in accordance with 

 these ideals. 



Thus, thanks to the inspiration of Darwin's 

 work, my ideas were finally crystallized. The 

 philosophical bent inherited from my father and 

 the love of nature that I owed to my mother 

 were now to work in harmony. 



Guided by the practical instincts that were 

 perhaps a joint heritage from both strains of 

 these ancestors, and the love of mechanics that 

 was only second to my love of nature, the inven- 

 tive tendencies that had found earlier employ- 

 ment in the manufacture of steam engines and 

 new turning devices were to be applied to the 

 plastic material of the living plant. 



Just where it all might lead no one could say. 

 The field I was entering had been but little 

 developed, but to my aroused imagination it 

 seemed a field of picturesque possibilities. 



