242 Human Physiology. 



reproduce itself to pass on its life in similar organisms, so 

 that its species may be continued for an indefinite period. It 

 is this grandest of the functions of life that we have now to 

 examine. 



In the vegetable kingdom, where this phenomenon may be 

 most conveniently examined, there are several modes of 

 reproduction; even the same plant may have two or three 

 distinct methods of propagating its kind. Let us look at our 

 lovely friend of the earliest spring-time, the crocus. Each bulb 

 sends up its flower, and each flower produces germs and pollen. 

 The germ is formed in the ovary or female organ of the flower; 

 the pollen is formed upon the anther, the top of the stamen or 

 male organ. The pollen, a cell containing the masculine element, 

 fertilises the germ-cell, or feminine element, and in some way, 

 incomprehensible to us, the union of the two elements results 

 in the formation of the living germ, which, under favourable 

 circumstances, developes into the perfect plant, which in turn 

 produces new flowers and seeds. 



The flower of every plant, with its seed or fruit, is the con- 

 summation of its life. On flowers nature has lavished all her 

 ingenuity of construction and adaptation, beauty, perfume, and 

 sweetness. In most plants the masculine and feminine 

 elements are in the same flower, stamens and pistils growing 

 almost in contact. In upright flowers the stamens are longest 

 so that the pollen can fall upon the pistil; in drooping flowers 

 it is the reverse. The snow-drop at first holds up its pure 

 petals to the sun, but when the period comes for the masculine 

 and feminine elements to form the living germs of new beings, 

 it modestly hangs down its head, and it is this change which 

 makes that union possible. Professor Maury says : " The 

 snow-drop must at the period of fecundation bow its head and 

 afterward raise it up again. There must be a certain relatior 

 between its fibres and the earth's attraction to make possible 

 the continuation of the species!" 



