218 PLANT-LIFE 



pigmy beside an elephant, yet he is much further ad- 

 vanced. He can perform greater feats by the exercise 

 of his inteUigence than an elephant can manage by 

 brute strength. The humbly proportioned Daisy can 

 succeed where a mammoth Sequoia would be utterly at ' 

 a loss. 



We have now arrived at the end of our rapid review 

 of the gamut of plant-life. We have seen plant-life in 

 its simplest forms, and traced it to its highest expres- 

 sion. To some extent we have observed the stages of 

 progress, but we have not explained the greatest of all 

 phenomena — Life itself. To do so, we should have to 

 enter the realm of metaphysics, and indulge in a dis- 

 cussion which has no rightful place in a volume such 

 as this. 



