Why the Majority of Men are Bight-Handed 439 



of growth instead of being elongated, is flattened down 

 into a disk, with the leaves in their normal places and 

 with the buds in the axils of the leaves ; in the sunflower 

 the seeds are largest at the outside of the circle and get 

 smaller as they go up to the top of the stem represented 

 by the centre of the disk further away from source of 

 supply. 



If the fine point of a young pine or larch tree be 

 looked at from the upper end towards the root, the 

 branches or leaves will be seen to have a similar spiral 

 arrangement. 



In the Bryophyllum Peltatum the leaves are thick 

 and fleshy and are deeply crenated on the edge and 

 stay hanging on the plant till they are quite old and 

 then fall off. If the leaf happens to fall on a damp 

 place and is allowed to lie there, in a short time a root 

 will be protruded from the angle of each of the deep 

 crenations, and shortly a second and a third root find 

 their way into the moisture and a bud will be pro- 

 truded on the upper side which will grow up to become 

 a new plant, hence the common name for this plant is 

 the life plant. This same characteristic to a less degree 

 is enjoyed by the begonia, the coleus and others. 



In seed-bearing plants, a flower is produced. The 

 various parts or envelopes of the flower consist only of 

 modified leaves, and it may be expected that they occa- 

 sionally take on other functions than the simple flower 

 duties. And flowers or clusters of flowers are seen, 

 especially in the primulaceae, in which the flower is 

 converted into a new branch, hence the common appear- 

 ance known as the hen and chickens; in this case, the 

 leaves which began as flower leaves have returned to 

 their duties as ordinary leaves, but when the flower 

 goes on to maturity we find the calyx or outside covering, 

 comes a whorl or more of stamens; all these parts are 

 the corolla, more or less gaudy, to attract insects, then 

 leaves modified to perform their functions; lastly, in 

 the centre, is the carpel or fruit or seed vessel; also a 



