LUTHER BURBANK 



We may take it as a safe observation that the 

 simpler the form of life, the less the tendency 

 toward variation; the more complex, the greater 

 the opportunity for individual differences. 



So, in the simpler subkingdoms, and in the 

 more general divisions down to and including the 

 order, the lines of division are more readily 

 differentiated, and the work of classification has 

 been fairly free from quarrels. 



But as the order breaks up into families, and 

 the family breaks up into genera, and the genus 

 breaks up into species, and the species breaks up 

 into varieties, and variations tend more and more 

 to carry the individual away from its kind, there 

 are to be found dissentions and differences of 

 opinion which could hardly be chronicled in 



twelve full volumes of this size. 



* * * * * 



Nor is this divergent opinion surprising. 



It is said that, of an iceberg floating in the sea, 

 but one-eighth is visible to the surface observer, 

 while seven-eighths of the mass are submerged 

 beneath the water line. 



Who, from looking at the one-eighth in view, 

 could be expected to draw an accurate detail 

 picture of the iceberg as a whole? 



The vegetable kingdom which presents itself 

 to our vision today has been under observation, 



[220] 



