112 Evolution of Vegetal Life. 



plant, by cutting off the root, and bringing the branch into 

 immediate contact with the soil and its contained fluids. 

 By this means its life may be prolonged far beyond what is 

 ordinarily its duration if left to grow from the original root, 

 but not always, perhaps, beyond what is possible in such 

 case : of a rose-bush still living at Heldersheim, in Ger- 

 many, it is said that, 800 years ago, Bishop Hepilo caused 

 a trellis to be erected to support it. 



For the purpose of my illustration, I can most safely go 

 far back of the plant which produced the roses before us, 

 and perhaps may as well take one of those in the thorns of 

 which I became entangled by the margin of the sea. Those 

 of you who are familiar with botany will pardon the intro- 

 duction of some rudimentary facts, which are essential to 

 the systematic development of the idea which I am to pre- 

 sent to you. 



We find, then, upon the summit of the flower stem, a lit- 

 tle green urn or cup, dividing into five leafy points, and 

 supporting upon its inner edge the five pink petals and a 

 numerous colony of stamens crowned with yellow anthers ; 

 while within the cup are many tiny sacks, to each of which 

 is attached a pistil having its summit slightly changed into 

 what is called the stigma. When the flower is completely 

 developed, we find that the anthers open and drop golden 

 pollen-grains upon the stigmas below ; and sufficient subse- 

 quent examination under a microscope shows us that from 

 each live pollen-grain there grows a slender thread, which 

 gradually penetrates to the little sack or ovule beneath. 

 We next find formed, within the ovule, a minute cell: a 

 membrane called cellulose, consisting chemically of carbon, 

 oxygen and hydrogen, containing a semi-fluid drop of a sub- 

 stance called protoplasm, and consisting of the same ele- 

 ments, with the addition of nitrogen. I cannot tell you 

 just how large this cell may be, but the ordinary diameter 

 of cells in vegetable tissue varies between l-240th and 

 l-1200th of an inch. If Ave take the largest of these, a cu- 

 bic inch would contain about 14,000,000 of them. But 

 whatever its size, this cell carries the promise and the po- 

 tency of the plant which is to be. It is not the primary 

 form of vitalized matter, for this matter exists as mere 

 protoplasm alone, Avithout a membrane. In its earliest con- 

 dition Ave should be unable to tell whether this protoplasm 

 is the initial step in the formation of a microscopic being 



