VII 

 THE FEELINGS OF PLANTS 



QUITE a short while ago the vegetable world was 

 considered to be something very distinct from 

 the animal kingdom. The difference between the 

 two living creations appeared to be so sharply 

 defined that the idea of any connection seemed 

 to be entirely out of the question ; at any rate, 

 such was the view of the matter to those who were 

 content to take a mere external survey. It is 

 now, of course, well known that in the primal 

 forms of existence plant and animal so closely 

 resemble one another that the keenest investigation 

 fails to establish any line of demarcation. Indeed, 

 the same basis is responsible for the manifestation 

 of life equally in the vegetable and the animal. 

 In the green chlorophyllian tissue of the plant 

 can be recognised the wonderful protoplasm, no 

 less than in the specialised nervous system of 

 the animal. This being so, it is a matter of great 

 interest to consider the response of the living 



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