92 BOTANY. [chap. hi. 



exercised by plants in reality, although, as in some of 

 the higher members of the Animal Kingdom, sugges- 

 tions of these virtues are paraded by certain plants for 

 the purpose of accomplishing an object by surreptitious 

 methods. 



The proofs of the evolution of all groups of plants 

 from seaweeds must be sought in more advanced works 

 than the present, where the evidence will be found more 

 convincing than is generally considered by those who 

 have never paid special attention to the study of plant 

 life. The fact that seaweeds still remain as seaweeds, 

 or, in other words, the reason why all the lower types of 

 plants have not evolved and got away from their primi- 

 tive starting-point, is not known ; neither is it known 

 why the half dozen children constituting a family do not 

 all exhibit exactly the same tendencies in every respect ; 

 we all know that such is not usually if ever the case, and 

 the variations of degree presented by the members of a 

 family should at least convince those most opposed to 

 evolution that all human beings are not cast in the same 

 mould, but that there must be a certain amount of internal 

 structural difference to account for the difference of exter- 

 nal manifestations ; for if the structure and composition of 

 every human being was absolutely identical, it would be 

 contrary to all experience to expect other than absolutely 

 identical results. The same argument in favour of in- 

 finitesimal differences between the members of a family 

 apply equally to the half dozen peas taken out of the 

 same pod, and if the truth of even the slightest amount 

 of variation is admitted as existing in the members of a 

 group, to w;hat extent may this variation extend ? The 

 evolutionist's answer would be that the limits of varia- 



