THE METHOD OF DARWIN. 



the slight spontaneous movements nor the slight 

 sensitiveness of the flower-peduncles were of 

 any service to the plants in climbing. He 

 gave reasons for believing that these imperfect 

 powers are not relics of former functional power, 

 and that correlation of growth did not transfer 

 them imperfectly from the internodes and young 

 petioles to the flower-peduncles; and said that, 

 by whatever means acquired, the case was inter- 

 esting to him because these useless capaci- 

 ties, by being a little perfected, would make 

 the flower-peduncles of this plant as useful for 

 climbing as are those of Vitis and other plants. 1 

 The important part which the case of Mau- 

 randia played in the reasoning is shown by 

 what he said concerning it. What he had said 

 of the source of sensitiveness to touch he almost 

 literally repeated of the power of circumnuta- 

 tion : " If we further inquire how the stems of 

 petioles, tendrils, and flower-peduncles of climb- 

 ing plants first acquire their power of spontane- 

 ously revolving, or, to speak more accurately, 

 of successively bending to all points of the 

 compass, we are again silenced, or at most can 

 only remark that the power of movement, both 

 spontaneous and from various stimuli, is far 



1 Journal of the Linnean Society, 1865; Botany, Vol. IX. 

 pp. 38-40. 



