82 THE AMFRfCAN HmJaXIST. 
Ixjttom of the nialu - - tv 
the bh-^'ioms that 
:icfruit- 
^- -1 on the 
; - • - . . . .... >till hard 
they bejjin to soften and gain in sweetness the chan,<re be- 
ing due, no doul)t, to the di^jestion of the starches an(] 
other substances In- a vegetable lernient. as in the similar 
METAMORPHOSIS. 
BY I)K. WM. WHIT-MAX HAILl-V. 
TT is not popularly known, thou-h men of science are 
1 well aware of it, that th.' j)oet (iocthc h rl a i)n)foun(i 
influence upon botanical theory Owe at all tamili'ir with 
works, is not surprised at this. He was, to lie sure, not 
always equally happy in his interpretations of nature. His 
theory of optics, for example, is still held to be absurd, l)ut 
with the poet prescience, he saw far ahead of his time, and 
adopted theory of the Hower. which goes to show 
of which are, therefore, leaves. This refers then all the 
floral organs, however diverse in appearance, u> a 
has, at some time in the course of its devel(»pment, existed 
as ;in ordinary branch, 1)ut that a branch which would 
under ordinary conditions have some green leaves, has 
been set apart, "metamorphosed" is Goethe's word, to do 
the work of reproduction. To-d.ty the theory is modified 
and extended andtheclaira made that all parts of a plant 
are morphologically to b-e rcferrcri to one of several factors, 
viz: root, stem, or leaf. Thi^ rule is the key to many a puz- 
