SCIENCE AND SOCIETY ii 



called popular scientific literature, for popular lectures — 

 a problem often lost sight of because those who set out 

 to treat scientific subjects in a popular way generally 

 devote their attention to but one side of their aim, 

 namely, how they may teach in the easiest and most 

 amusing way. 



I have said, that in order to understand the life of a 

 plant it is necessary to study its form ; in order to 

 understand the working of a machine a study of its 

 construction is needed. Let us glance at the external, 

 formal manifestations of the life of a plant, the observa- 

 tion of which does not require any preliminary study, 

 nor any technical method of investigation. 



Let us begin our sketch with the awakening of the 

 plant's life after the winter's slumber. In what state 

 will the spring find it ? Where is hidden the origin of 

 this new life ? It lies concealed in the seed which has 

 maintained its vitality under the shelter of the soil 

 and the thick cover of snow. It is maintained in buds, 

 which have endured the misery of the cold under the 

 protection of their scales. By the action of the warm 

 spring sun every bare piece of ground produces green 

 shoots ; on every tree or bush buds swell, burst, and 

 lose their unsightly and already useless scales. The 

 seed and the bud — those are the two organs to which 

 daily experience attributes the origin of the plant's 

 life. It is therefore with an investigation of them that 

 we shall begin our study. 



First, what is a seed and what are its component 

 parts ? Let us investigate the well-known seed of a 

 bean. If soaked in water it will swell and become 

 detached from its skin, or coat. Under the seed-coat 

 we shall find it split into two fleshy or rather hard and 

 cartilaginous parts. In between these will be found 

 inserted a small body connecting them together. 



