312 
and^ of course^ I assent to tlie opinion of tliose who linovj, i.e., 
of scientists ; moreover, I see that this individuality can 
be multiplied into as many individualities as you can succeed 
in growing by cuttings from the plant. But how am I to 
understand this fact, that each part is fitted to subserve the 
purpose of the whole? If there were not the ascending and 
descending axis the notion of tree could not exist. If all were 
root, there would be no upward growth. If there were no 
ascending sap, how would the trunk or branches be formed ? 
If there were no leaves, how could there be any increase ? 
How wonderful the hydraulic machinery which pumps up, 
filtering at the same time the fluid constituents, distributing 
them to every extremity. How marvellous the chemistry of 
the leaves and the aerial adaptation of the stomata. To say 
that all these things come by chance, or by such chance as is 
no chance at all, viz., natural selection,^^ is an insult to one’s 
understanding. 
Mr. Keynolds well says : — 
“ It is absolutely and for ever inconceivable that carbon, hydrogen, and 
nitrogen, should be otherwise than indifferent as to their position and 
motion, past, present, or future. Are we, ‘the cunningest of Nature’s 
clocks,’ to believe that there is no intelligence at the heart of things ? Are 
we to set our time as if it were more philosophical to regard unconscious, 
unintelligent, energies, as wise creators and intelligent guides, than to have 
faith in God ? We will not thus sell ourselves for nought” (p. 122). 
Still more remarkable are the means by which the plant 
succeeds in suppljdng its needs, sometimes by what we may 
call legitimate means, sometimes at the expense of its neigh- 
bours. The roots prolong themselves in search of water, or 
attracted, as it might almost seem, by some marvellous instinct 
in following up the scent of their appropriate nourishment. 
A writer in the Gardener^s Ghroivicle (Jan. 18th, 1873) 
says : — 
“ I had some horse-radish growing near a pump, and in taking some up 
to-day, I found a root had grown 9 feet in length down the weU.” The 
editor remarks, “ A 9-feet run in search of a suitable larder must be a rare 
feat, even for a horse-radish root.” 
It almost revolts against our moral sense to watch the 
contrivances seen in the pitcher-plants for betraying their 
prey and securing for themselves a supply of animal food ; to 
attribute these to the plants themselves would be to endow 
them with a high degree indeed of wisdom and intelligence ; 
but what shall we say of their selfishness ? That it is 
emblematic ? The modest-looking and unpretending sundew 
(Drosera) not only entraps, but, I think, poisons her victims. 
The apparently voluntary motions of the twining plants, 
