BOOK III. 



THE SEED AND GERMINATION. 



The seed is really only a vegetable egg, and Linnse,us, 

 when he gave it this name in his botanical philosophy, 

 already perceived all the analogies between the two. 



When these analogies are compared Ave see that the 

 advantage is on the side of the plant, and that its egg is 

 elevated to a higher state of organic development than 

 that of the bird. In the latter it is with difficulty that we 

 perceive the germ of the new being that is to issue from 

 it, whilst Avhen we separate the coverings and membranes 

 of the seed of the plant, we see the embryo already formed. 

 We distinguish in it, even with the naked eye, the little 

 root, the stem, and the delicate leaves; everything is there: 

 it is nothing but a young plant slumbering in its cradle. 

 In many seeds we can even discern the cords by wdiich the 

 little one clings to the mammai Avliich are to nourish it. 



The young stalk of the Avheat exists already in the grain 

 which we cat; the little palm-tree, as stiff as the vertical 

 stem which it is about t(j produce, is also seen in the 

 cocoa-nut; while the embryo of the bean, bent upon itself, 

 reveals the tendency Avhich its stem has to curl itself round 

 everything that finds itself in its Avay. 



