444 STUDIES IN SEEDS AND FRUITS 



this. We get a tangible clue at the very start whefi we 



reflect that in its habits the seed is in a cosmic sense more 



cosmic than the fully developed plant. The plant needs an 



atmosphere, whilst the seed does not. While the plant appears 



to be specially adapted for terrestrial conditions, the seed might 



conceivably retain its vitality where no atmosphere of the 



terrestrial type exists. Admittedly it can withstand the cold 



of space, and it might survive even the extreme conditions 



Adaptation of the lunar surface. Thus, 'w^hilst the seed is adapted as 



for existence such for existence " in other worlds than ours," the full-grown 



worlds and pl^-nt seems to be fitted for terrestrial life only. The question 



of the plant of " cosmic adaptation" as a greneral principle is discussed in 



forterrestnal r ,- , tt i t i i 



life only. a later page of this chapter. Here, then, 1 take the position 



that whilst the seed is cosmically adaptive, the plant as far as 



we can know at present is only terrestrial in its adaptation. 



It will probably prove, however, as will subsequently be shown, 



that every stage in the development of the plant-organism has 



its cosmic side, but that the cosmic element diminishes as 



the organism develops, being greatest in the seed and least 



in the full-grown plant. 



The differ- The cosmic conditions would be those common to all the 



the cosmic planetary worlds; whilst the , terrestrial conditions would be 



and^those^ those peculiar to our planet. Now, the nature of the difference 



specially between the cosmic conditions common to all inhabited worlds 



and the special conditions of any particular planet is the first 



question that presents itself. How should we characterise it .? 



It would be fallacious to assert that the continued existence 



of a seed during a voyage in space or on the surface of a 



planet without 'an atmosphere like that of the earth would 



imply existence under a negation of conditions. It would 



not even involve a complete negation of terrestrial conditions, 



since the terrestrial conditions would comprise a residuum 



which our planet possesses in common with all the planetary 



worlds. These residual conditions are common f o the cosmos, 



and we may here include space itself. They are the cosmic 



conditions to which the seed is adapted. 



