PART I. 

 GROWTH AND WORK OF PLANTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

 THE PLANT, ITS PARTS AND ORGANIZATION. 



1. Plants and animals. All things on the earth which are 

 living, or once had life, are known as plants or animals. To- 

 gether they are called organisms* Among the higher kinds of 

 plants and animals, those which we have come to know familiarly 

 from childhood, it is not hard to distinguish them. Aside from 

 the great difference in form and appearance, the higher animals 

 are able to move from place to place, more or less according to 

 their own will. They take solid or liquid food into their bodies; 

 have a highly developed nerve system, circulatory system for 

 blood, a system for breathing, etc. In the higher plants, on the 

 other hand, the individuals are stationary, or fixed; or, if they 

 move about, it is not from any will of their own, but because they 

 are moved by currents of water, air, or by other forces. They 

 do not take solid food inside their bodies, nor do they possess th. 

 highly developed nerve, circulatory or breathing systems, etc., 

 present in animals. 



2. The parts of the plant. Most of the plants which we 

 are familiar with from childhood are made up of different parts, 

 all of which have certain work to do for the good of the plant as a 



* Some of the very low organisms appear to be intermediate between plants 

 and animals. Although it is impossible in the case of these very low organ- 

 isms to give a definition of a plant or an animal which will clearly distinguish 

 the two kinds, it is customary to treat of but two groups of organisms, the 

 Plant Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom. 



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