166 From Matter to Man. 



that even the invisible molecules and atoms in the ulti- 

 mate vegetal structure itself bow themselves in bondage 

 to this irrevocable and infallible law of design. 



Section 6. The Evolution of Vegetal Sex ; or The 

 Duality and Sexuality of Vegetals : 



While the inner cycle of evolution — from seed to 

 seed — is generally predominant, it is not invariable. 

 All plants do not reproduce or perpetuate their kind, 

 for some become extinct, which means reversion to 

 that natal outer cycle of the elements from which they 

 originally sprang. Assuming, therefore, the automatic 

 production of primordial plants from inorganic con- 

 stituents, reproduction, as a more or less complex 

 process, would not be a sudden but a gradual develop- 

 ment. Hence those plants which accidentally de- 

 veloped sexual organs through natural selection and 

 produced seed would stand a better chance of estab- 

 lishing and maintaining themselves than others failing 

 to do so. Many plants, through inability to perfect 

 successful modes of reproducing themselves or of 

 adapting their mechanisms to changed conditions and 

 environments, have thus perished. Reproduction, again, 

 even granting the perfection of the sexual organs, is 

 dependent upon various essential conditions, the chief 

 of which is the absolute necessity of fertilisation. 



A most important question in vegetal evolution thus 

 is — What is Sex ? * 



* See an interesting book called The Sagacity and Morality of 

 Plants, by Dr J. E. Taylor. 



