136 Evolution of Vegetal Lift. 



of the men of a given locality. The thistle which Adam cursed, 

 according to tradition, is a product of cZe-volution, botanists as- 

 sure us. By studying the laws and conditions of evolution in its 

 total range, we have the materials for a science of proiihecy, 

 which may ultimately enable man to lay hold on the future, and 

 greatly hasten the progress of civilization. 



Dr. Robert G. Eccles: — 



All science in one sense is pre-vision or prophecy. The botan- 

 ical divisions of jjlants are arbitrary, and do not indicate an ab- 

 solute separation of species. The diiference between those most 

 alike in different genera is no greater than between some which 

 are classified as belonging to the same genera, but of distant or- 

 ders. The plants of China and the northern part of America are 

 so much alike as to indicate a common origin in the present Arc- 

 tic region when the two continents were united, and a warmer 

 climate existed in the polar regions. 



Dr. Lewis G. Janes: — 



A notable distinction between the organic and inorganic king- 

 doms is observed in their different methods of growth — the lat- 

 ter by accretion, or simple addition to bulk ; the former by intus- 

 susception, or displacement and renewal of particles throughout 

 the whole tissue. On the theory of spontaneous generation, sci- 

 ence has not yet explained how one method was exchanged for the 

 other, in the passage from inorganic to organic structure. 



