MALADIE ET SYMBIOSE 251 



due the " transformations initiales " of the ancestors of the 

 orchids. Meanwhile Prof. Bernard's hypothesis is that, since it 

 is Symbiosis, which " dans ses progres ultimes," i.e., in the only 

 form in which Symbiosis is known to him, causes the increasingly 

 precocious formations of bulbs and rhizoms, one may conclude 

 that the inception of these organs is also due to a primordially 

 established Symbiosis. And this may be true, although it is to 

 be doubted that it was Symbiosis of the kind envisaged by 

 Prof. Bernard that performed the feat. 



We are indeed soon reminded by Prof. Bernard's own further 

 reflections that with a little supplementary argument there is 

 good reason for taking a view of the origin of Symbiosis different 

 from the one he favours. This is what we are told under the 

 head of " Di verses conditions equivalentes a la symbiose " : 



L'6tablissement d'un mode special de croissance " par epaississement " 

 a du etre la reaction initiale des plantules chez les especes les moins adaptees 

 a la symbiose. Mais ce mode de croissance meme s'observe commune- 

 ment au debut de la formation de tubercules chez des plantes diverses et 

 aussi dans bien d'autres cas ; il est, en somme, d'une nature banale au 

 meme titre que d'autres phenomenes du developpement. L'infestation 

 par des champignons apparait comme une condition tres particuliere, 

 mais les reactions qu'elle entraine, envisagees en elles-m ernes, n'ont rien 

 de special au cas des Orchidees. 



Granted that there has been a " thickening " as an initial 

 reaction of the seedlings when they first became adapted to useful 

 interaction with fungi ; granted further, and even with special 

 emphasis, that we are here dealing with a fairly universal 

 phenomenon closely approximating non-pathological " Norm- 

 Symbiosis " how are we to interpret the evolutionary significance 

 of the phenomenon ? 



We shall not regard it with the French professor as a trivial 

 matter, but insist that it is due to the fact that services have been 

 rendered to the plant by some partner, as a result of which services, 

 and in accordance with the sociological principle of compensation, 

 the plant reciprocates by storing up reserve materials for " export " 

 for the purposes of Symbiosis in the wider meaning of the 

 term. There is nothing " tres particuliere " in orchid-cum- 

 fungus Symbiosis, inasmuch as by its reactions it is merely seen to 

 illustrate the operation of compensation. On the other hand, 

 this Symbiosis is, indeed, " particuliere " inasmuch as it is apt 

 to impair the progress of normal exchange relations in the world 

 of life, which relations, contrary to Prof. Bernard's belief in the 



