202 THE SPEECH OF MONKEYS. 



and closing of leaf and bloom, seeking the moist- 

 ure and carbon from the atmosphere, suggest a 

 feeble expression of desire. The choice of food 

 is so well defined in some plants as to indicate a 

 power of selection far greater than some proto- 

 zoans exercise. It is a known fact that a change 

 of food and conditions often modifies a plant in 

 such degree as to make it difficult to recognize 

 except by the technical laws of classification, and 

 yet its identity is not lost. Such changes do 

 not affect all plants in the same degree, as some 

 of them will undergo a change of diet or con- 

 dition without material effect. In many instances 

 a marked dislike to certain kinds of food has been 

 observed, and the sensitiveness of some plants 

 is *shown in the foliage, bloom, and even in the 

 roots. 



In passing from the vegetable to the mineral 

 kingdom, we find a like diffusion of types over- 

 lapping and blending into each other. Some 

 forms of vegetation are so low in the scale of 

 organism as to make it difficult to say whether 

 they are vegetable or mineral compounds. Of 

 course we find no trace of speech, but there is 

 that hint of expression, or suggestion of desire, 

 as found in the vegetable kingdom. In the 



