GOETHE ON THE METAMORPHOSIS OF PLANTS. 8 
be able to introduce much that is illustrative of the subject, and to cite 
many passages from authors holding similar views. 1 shall most 
gladly avail myself of any suggestions from those of my contemporaries 
who are skilled in this noble science ; and to them I present and dedi- 
cate these pages. 
I. Of the Seed-leaves. 
10. Having undertaken to observe the successive steps in the growth 
of a plant, let us first direct our attention to it when it begins to germi- 
nate. We can at this stage easily and exactly distinguish its compo- 
nent parts. Its coverings (which we will not now stay to examine) re- 
main more or less concealed in the soil; and (in many instances) the 
root becomes established, before the plant exhibits those first organs of 
its upward growth, which were previously hidden in the seed. 
- 11. These organs are called cotyledons ; also seed-lobes, seed-leaves, 
etc., from their different forms. 
12. They are often ur, _spely, charged as it were with a crude sub- 
stance, and very thick i proportion to their breadth; their vessels are 
not recognizable, and can scarcely be distinguished from the general 
mass; they have moreover very little resemblance to leaves, and we are 
in danger of being led to regard them, erroneously, as distinct organs. 
13. Yet in many plants they nearly approach the form of a leaf; they 
become flatter, and on being exposed to light and air they assume a 
deeper green ; the vessels become recognizable and more like the veins 
of a leaf.* i 
14. At length they assume the appearance of true leaves; their vessels 
are perfectly developed, and their similarity to the leaves subsequently 
produced, shows that they are not distinet organs, but simply the first 
leaves of the stem. — 
15. Now as we cannot realize the idea of a leaf apart from the node 
out of which it springs, or of a node without a bud, we may venture 
to infer that the point at which the cotyledons are attached, is the first 
* "The consistence and size of the cotyledons are very nen in inverse relation 
with the amount of the peri or albumen ; where this is abundant, the cotyle- 
dons are small, or thin and leaf-like, and possess nervures, stomata, ete., like other 
leaves ; and as they are exposed to light and air, they perform the same functions as 
ordinary leaves do; while the thick fleshy —— remain below the surface of 
the soil, and seem to serve the purpose of » Whence the young plant may 
derive nutriment. : 
+ Foliaceous cotyledons may be well seen in the seeds of the Lime, Sycamore, 
Ricinus, ete. 
b 2 
