THE PLANT AS A PARENT 53 



The most obvious change in the appearance of 

 the seed when conditions favourable for its ger- 

 mination are present, is a decided increase in size. 

 This goes on apace until the outer skin bursts, and 

 two very distinct parts are to be seen. One, 

 whitish in colour and sometimes branched, sinks 

 at once into the soil this is the root ; the other, 

 of a light green shade, rises above the ground 

 this is the shoot. In the germination of the seed 

 we are witnessing a phenomenon which has pro- 

 vided the puzzle of the ages. What is it that 

 induces the radicle with such persistence to plunge 

 into the soil ? However the seed may have been 

 placed when it germinated, the root always 

 wriggles round so as to strike straight down- 

 ward. Seeds which have been continually turned 

 go through the strangest contortions in order that 

 they may anchor themselves in the ground. It 

 might be thought that it was the desire of the 

 roots to get away from the light, had it not been 

 shown that seeds grown in a box with holes in 

 the bottom will send their radicles down through 

 the openings out into the open. In doing so they 

 leave not only the darkness behind them, but 

 also the moisture in which they germinated. 



It has been suggested, and with a good deal 

 of reason, that the law of gravitation has not a 



