444 



STUDIES IN SEEDS AND FRUITS 



this. We get a tangible clue at the very start when we 

 reflect that in its habits the seed is in a cosmic sense more 

 cosmic than the fully developed plant. The plant needs an 

 atmosphere, whilst the seed does not. While the plant appears 

 to be specially adapted for terrestrial conditions, the seed might 

 conceivably retain its vitality where no atmosphere of the 

 terrestrial type exists. Admittedly it can withstand the cold 

 of space, and it might survive even the extreme conditions 

 of the lunar surface. Thus, whilst the seed is adapted as 

 such for existence " in other worlds than ours," the full-grown 

 plant seems to be fitted for terrestrial life only. The question 

 of "cosmic adaptation" as a general principle is discussed in 

 a later page of this chapter. Here, then, I take the position 

 that whilst the seed is cosmically adaptive, the plant as far as 

 we can know at present is only terrestrial in its adaptation. 

 It will probably prove, however, as will subsequently be shown, 

 that every stage in the development of the plant-organism has 

 its cosmic side, but that the cosmic element diminishes as 

 the organism develops, being greatest in the seed and least 

 in the full-grown plant. 



The cosmic conditions would be those common to all the 

 planetary worlds ; whilst the terrestrial conditions would be 

 those peculiar to our planet. Now, the nature of the difi^erence 

 between the cosmic conditions common to all inhabited worlds 

 and the special conditions of any particular planet is the first 

 question that presents itself. How should we characterise it ? 

 It would be fallacious to assert that the continued existence 

 of a seed during a voyage in space or on the surface of a 

 planet without an atmosphere like that of the earth would 

 imply existence under a negation of conditions. It would 

 not even involve a complete negation of terrestrial conditions, 

 since the terrestrial conditions would comprise a residuum 

 which our planet possesses in common with all the planetary 

 worlds. These residual conditions are common to the cosmos, 

 and we may here include space itself. They are the cosmic 

 conditions to which the seed is adapted. 



