THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



59 



tened. In sandy to very rich heavy soils. Closely related to 

 Allium inutahilc, ^lichx. It does not grow with that plant but 

 occupied the ground by itself. Some would call it merely a 

 variety of inutahilc. It is simply a point of view which is con- 

 stantly changing. I publish it in this way to call attention to 

 a plant worthy of cultivation. The delicate lavender fades into 

 pink with age and upon drying in press. 



PLANTS AND ANIMALS FUNDA- 

 MENTALLY ALIKE 



inUXDA^vIEXTALLY, plants and animals are very much 

 alike. I mean the resemblances are much more basic than 

 the dif¥erences. The latter, very conspicuous to the eye, 

 may be regarded as differences of degree, rather than of kind. 

 Of many of the lower forms of life, it is still very difficult to 

 say whether they are plants or animals : of the whole group 

 of bacteria for example. For the primitive doubtful forms of 

 life you will recaU that Haeckel created the special kingdom of 

 Protista. To my mind a fundamental unity runs through all 

 living things from the lowest to the highest like a gold thread 

 through a tapestry. For one thing, all are alive ; all possessed 

 of that unstable equilibrium of forces expressed by the words 

 growth and decay. These phenomena are the properties of 

 a substance called protoplasm. In both plants and animals 

 this substance is organized into the form of cells. In both, 

 usually, it is the outer protoplasmic membrane that controls 

 the passage. of ioiis, the disassociated electrically charged ele- 

 ments of water and other compounds. The same wonderful 

 process of cell multiplication by mitosis occurs in both plants 

 and animals. In both, except in the lowest forms, these cells 

 are organized into tissues with diz'isiou of labor. In both, 

 there is a sexual metJiod of reproduction. Plants, indeed, 



