THE BEGINNINGS OF PLANT LIFE 3 



that is free from plant life. Its germs, or spores, 

 fill the air we breathe and are consumed in all the 

 food that we eat. The very ground we stand 

 upon may be built up of tiny plants, as I will show 

 later. 



While mentioning fungi, moulds, and other 



Fig. i. Microscopic unicellular plants, multiplying 

 bv division of tht ir cells 



parasitic organisms as being representative of 

 plant life, it is not my purpose here to consider 

 this class of plants, but rather those which may 

 be regarded as leading the way to the higher 

 plants, by their possession of the important green 

 colouring-matter known as " chlorophyll," or its 



