THE COSMIC ADAPTATION OF THE SEED 453 



existence may be expanded in another direction, and we have 

 then a calm reposeful world with a relatively light atmosphere 

 but little disturbed by air currents, where the equilibrium 

 between the organism and its environment is preserved for 

 almost an eternity and vegetation of the Sequoia type prevails. 



We are thus not called upon to suppose that the plant-life 

 in other worlds is necessarily quite beyond the range of our 

 terrestrial experience. There are doubtless worlds where the 

 very conditions of life are on quite another plane, and for such 

 the indications supplied by the earth would have no value. 

 But there must be many for which the terrestrial scale would 

 be ample enough in its scope ; and as our knowledge of these 

 matters increases it will be along the lines there indicated that 

 progress will be made. There is, however, much that is not 

 conceivable in the possibilities of other forms of life under , 

 other conditions ; but the point urged here is that we have not 

 yet exhausted the conceivable, as suggested by the variety of 

 the forms of life and of the life-conditions presented on the 

 surface of the earth. 



Before quitting this part of my subject for the discussion of Not the 

 " cosmic adaptation," let me remind my readers that nothing a'typebut 

 in the nature of evolution has been here implied. I have thedevelop- 

 regarded plant-life from this particular standpoint as if the different 

 doctrine of evolution had never been propounded. Evolu- sameplant- 

 tionary phraseology has become so established that it is not impUed.''^'^^ 

 easy to state any problem or to indicate any new standpoint 

 without doing so in terms of that theory. This seems to be 

 unfortunate in some respects. In the previous pages I have 

 been concerned with the development of the several stages of 

 the same plant-type in response to the varying pressure of the 

 conditions, the seed-stage and that of the fully developed forest 

 trees representing respectively the effects of the maximum and 

 minimum repressive influence as indicated in our terrestrial 

 scale. (Some further remarks on this matter will be found 

 in Note 19 of the Appendix.) 



All terrestrial organisms are generally adapted to the earth's 



