30O LUCK, OR CUNNING? 



more than an aggregation of tissues, but is a complex 

 being performing acts as a whole, and not merely 

 responsive to the direct influence of light, &c. The 

 tree knows more than its branches, as the species 

 knows more than the individual, the community than 

 the unit. 



"Moreover, inasmuch as my experiments show that 

 many plants and trees profess the power of adapting 

 themselves to unfamiliar circumstances, such as, for 

 instance, avoiding obstacles by bending aside before 

 touching, or by altering the leaf arrangement, it seems 

 probable that at least as much voluntary power must 

 be accorded to such plants as to certain lowly orga- 

 nised animals. 



" Finally, a connecting system by means of which 

 combined movements take place is found in the 

 threads, of protoplasm which unite the various cells, 

 and which I have now shown to exist even in the 

 wood of trees. 



" One of the important facts seems to be the uni- 

 versality of the upward curvature of the tips of 

 growing branches of trees, and the power possessed 

 by the tree to straighten its branches afterwards, so 

 that new growth shall by similar means be able to 

 obtain the necessary light and air. 



" A house, to use a sanitary analogy, is functionally 

 useless without it obtains a good supply of light and 

 air. The architect strives so to produce the house as 

 to attain this end, and still leave the house comfort- 

 able. But the house, though dependent upon, is not 

 produced by, the light and air. So a tree is functionally 



