CHAPTER XI. 



The Evolution of Vegetals. 



Regarding the evolution of the contents of the 

 vegetal kingdom, our object shall be to show that 

 plants like crystals are automata, that they grow by 

 automatic laws, and that these laws are the same as 

 those which govern all things in the universe. The 

 plants to which we shall in brief fashion call attention, 

 and the lessons to be drawn from them, shall unmis- 

 takably reveal the materialistic nature of their origin, 

 their unintentional design, the devious modes of their 

 haphazard natural development, and the reason why 

 their mode of living raises such a barrier between 

 them and other natural products, that it precludes 

 their progression beyond the confines of the vegetal 

 kingdom. 



Man's beliefs are generally, but not always, accord- 

 ing to his knowledge, hence, if his knowledge be scant, 

 his opinions are correspondingly grotesque. With the 

 exception of specialists, few average men of intelligence 

 know more about plants than a kitchen garden reveals 



