AND THE LOWER ANIMALS. 267 



soon die from want of food ; but, being nourished by 

 their fellows, they increase and become developed, 

 and serve to perpetuate the species. Their function 

 is limited to this end. They are, in fact, so many 

 reproductive individuals. 



It is just the same with the rose. A certain number 

 of buds, instead of being converted into branches, give 

 rise to flowers. The leaves, having been extensively 

 modified, and endowed with more important functions, 

 are changed into sepals and petals, to form the perianth, 

 and into stamens and pistils, to form the apparatus of 

 both sexes, which here, as in many animals, are com- 

 bined. The branch, thus metamorphosed, could not 

 support .itself, but is dependent for nourishment on 

 the colony, whose propagation is ensured by it in 

 return. It has also become a reproductive individual. 



In the rose-tree, as in the Coryne, things take place 

 in precisely the same manner. 



The Coryne mother produces ova, the rose produces 

 seeds. Here again, if we except peculiarities of form 

 and of complication, or of specific simplicity, there is 

 no difference between the two kingdoms. We find in 

 both varieties of reproductive bodies, an essential part 

 (the germ in the ovum, the embryo in the seed) which 

 will eventually be converted into a living being. In 

 both we observe special accessory parts, intended for 

 the nutrition of the young animal and vegetable, and 

 which in the ovum are styled vitellus and albumen, 

 and in the seed perisperm and cotyledons. Both ovum 

 and seed, too, are enclosed in more or less numerous 

 protective envelopes, and may exist in hundreds, or 

 be completely isolated. If, therefore, combining their 

 general characters, we draw ideal figures of seed and 



