152 THE NATURE OF NATURE 



yellow rose — a dwarf, simple, single rose. It is 

 known to botanists as Rosa persica, and is believed 

 to be the original of all roses. I found it on the 

 extreme outlying spurs of the Altai. Mountains. 

 Now, a seed of the rose, partly under the influence 

 of its surroundings (soil, moisture, air, sunshine) 

 but chiefly hy virtue of something which it contains 

 within itself, something inherent in its very nature, 

 will grow up into a rose-bush and give forth roses. 

 The seed develops into a rose, not because some 

 outside super-gardener takes hold of each one of 

 the million million ultra-microscopic particles of 

 which it is made up and puts it carefully into its 

 appointed place, as a builder might put the stones 

 of a building into their exact places according to 

 the plans of an architect ; but because each of those 

 minutest ultimate particles has that within it which 

 prompts it to act of its own accord in response to 

 the call of the whole. Each of these electrons is 

 in incessant and terrific motion, moving at the rate 

 of something like 180,000 miles a second, so placing 

 it in position would be a difficult matter. Besides 

 which, each electron is not a tiny bit of matter as 

 we ordinarily conceive matter — something which 

 we can touch and handle. It is a mere centre or 

 nucleus of energy. Any placing of it in position 

 by a super-gardener is therefore out of the question. 

 Each of those little particles moves and acts of 

 itself in accordance with its own inner promptings, 

 and in response to the influence of those other 

 myriads of particles and groups of particles about 

 it. And that system of these groups of particles 

 which is enclosed within the rondure of the seed 



