THE SCHOOL OF THE SHORE 33 



(III.) According to Dr. Church's interpre- 

 tation, the gradual raising of the sea-floor in 

 certain places led to the first dry land, and 

 some of the seaweeds, which had become very 

 complex plants, were transformed into land 

 plants. If this is true, it was a great change. 

 The roots of seaweeds are only anchors or 

 hold-fasts; they would require to be equipped 

 with rootlets and root-hairs for absorbing the 

 water and salts from the young soil. And the 

 whole surface of the sea-plant, suited for ab- 

 sorbing water and salts all over, would have 

 to become the gas-absorbing surface of the 

 land-plant. Moreover, there would need to 

 be a system of vessels inside the pioneering 

 land-plant for transporting the raw materials 

 and the manufactured materials from one 

 part of the plant to another; and this is only 

 beginning in seaweeds. 



Of course, when we speak of transforma- 

 tion, we must not think of the old stories of 

 the yellow frog who was suddenly turned into 

 a fairy prince, or of the followers of Diomede 

 turned into birds, which a scholar-naturalist 

 has identified as Shearwaters. Nature's is no 

 quick magic, but here a little change and 

 there a little change, so gradually, so slowly, 



