MALADIE ET SYMBIOSE 261 



habituated to corresponding releases by a fungal partner. True, 

 the stimulation is physical, or chemical ; but surely it also 

 partakes of the nature of socio-physiological substitution ; for man 

 performs the part of the fungus. In any case, both in Drosera 

 and in orchid the presence of excessive water is not without 

 sociological significance. That Drosera has become an in-feeder 

 may be seen from the fact that apart from insects, its glands also 

 absorb matter from living seeds, which are injured or killed by 

 the secretion ; and, according to Darwin, the glands also absorb 

 matter from pollen, and from fresh leaves. No wonder, therefore, 

 with such degrading habits, the protoplasm fails to be healthily 

 constituted and weakness ensues. 



All of which shows that if we wish to arrive at a correct 

 appreciation of any particular form of Symbiosis, allowance must 

 first be made for the nature of the existing disabilities, if any, 

 for which redress or compensation is sought by means of mutual 

 aid. Symbiosis is an ideal method for remedying disabilities ; 

 but inasmuch as those disabilities are primarily due to faulty 

 social methods, i.e., some perversion of fundamental or "Norm "- 

 Symbiosis, what new methods of Symbiosis may be adopted, are 

 often but secondary in importance. The new form of symbiotic 

 adaptation, in other words, may have only a local and a merely 

 expedient purport, and even be leading away from Symbiogenesis, 

 which, as we have seen, proceeds less by expedient than by 

 " social " ways ; and if it is thus apt to lead away from the good 

 pathway of life, the value of such secondary Symbiosis is, to say 

 the least, doubtful. This comment applies, I believe, to orchidean 

 Symbiosis with the fungi, and likewise to the case of Convolutal 

 Symbiosis with (saprophytically inclined) alg, which " Plant- 

 Animalism " I have already, in Symbiogenesis, set down to a 

 retrogressive form of Symbiosis. The connection of such 

 secondary forms of Symbiosis with disease is due to the fact 

 that they impair a more important form of Symbiosis, upon 

 which health primarily depends. I believe Prof. Bernard's chief 

 error consists in his treating as primary, a secondary form, of 

 Symbiosis. 



The French Botanist's " ladder " of orchidean Symbiosis 

 leads from Bletilla to the tribe of the Cattleyas, many of which 

 are cultivated in green-houses. We are told that : 



Le chemin parcouru peut en definitive s'appr6cier par des signes assez 

 nombreux. Les embryons des graires ont regress^ et ne presentent plus 



