CONTENTS 
PREFACE . « . . : ‘ . oe 
CHAPTER I 
GENERAL 
What is protoplasm?—Aim of the Plant world—Glacial clay—Fresh 
lavas—Eruption of Krakatao—Succession of Floras—Tropical 
jungle as the most complex association—Foliage surfaces—British 
woods—Co-operation in woodlands—Wood anemone—Co-opera- 
tion amongst its cells—Struggle for life . ‘ ta oe * 
CHAPTER II 
SEAWEEDS AND LEAF-GREEN 
Leaf-green or chlorophyll—Its method of working—Green, brown, 
and red seaweeds—Colours and their importance—Changes in 
colour—Hot springs—Resistances to ‘heat and cold—Arctic and 
Antarctic seaweeds—Macrocystis—Sargasso Sea—Floating marine 
organisms—Trades’ dust—Diatoms—Labrador deposits of diatoms 
—Phosphorescence at sea—Alcohol and seaweeds—Desmids— 
Parasites . ar 7 , . . . . . . 
CHAPTER III 
THE FIRST LAND PLANTS 
Land algae—Nostoc of gravel—Destruction of nitrogenous matter by 
fires and explosives—Nostoc and its special bacterial assistant— 
Nitrogen bacillus—Pliny on beans—Green manures-—Tubercles 
of leguminosee—Nitro-culture—Nitrogen and nitro-bacterine—Pro- 
fessor Bottomley’s experiments and the results—Soil, constitution 
and air contents—Rich population in hollows, &c.—Bacterial 
activity—Fungi in soil—Circulation of air—Heavy rain—Frost— 
Effect of decimating bacilli—Roman bacteria. . . . . 
CHAPTER IV 
BACTERIA 
Germs ubiquitous—Colonies of bacteria—Toxins and antitoxins— 
Defence of animal bodies—Phagocytes—Opsonins—Pasteur and 
hydrophobia—Vaccination—Imprisoned bacteria—Phosphorescent 
forms—Lamps of living germs—Spontaneous combustion—Bacterial 
colours—Rapidity of development . c . . 3 . 
CHAPTER V 
ROCK LICHENS 
The Trentepohlia forest—Exposure of lichens—Variety of colours—Dust 
—Destruction of rocks by lichens—Rhizocarpon in chalk—Quartz 
rock corrosion—Weathering—Slow growth of lichens—7Zripe de 
roche and reindeer moss. Sar ee ar GS, AR, : 
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