June  2,  1904. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  OABDENER. 
467 
products  through  the  vegetation  of  past  ages,  of  the  sunshine 
of  their  time.  Directly  or  indirectly,  therefore,  ve  ahrays 
come  at  last  to  the  sun  as  the  impelling  vital  force,  and  in  con¬ 
nection  thei'ewith  we  equally  invariably  find  that  this  force  can 
only  find  vital  expression  through  the  vegetation  which  clothes 
the  world  with  verdure ;  naturally,  therefore,  we  find  a  certain 
synchronism  to  exist  between  cause  and  effect ;  that  is,  between 
vital  vegetative  activity,  and  solar  influence,  especially  as  solar 
light  and  solar  heat  are  so  intimately  associated,  and  the  heat 
is  also  a  factor  in  leaf  development. 
The  next  thing  to  considef  is  how  the  sunshine  is  enabled  to 
do  its  vital  work  within  the  leaves,  and  although  it  is  impossible 
flavours,  odours,  and  chemical  products  which  exist  in  the  plant 
world,  and  remember  that  all  of  these,  nutritious,  noxious,  or 
even  deadly  poisonous,  are  fashioned  by  these  little  green  grains, 
and  that  every  leaf  in  the  fair  prospect  we  may  be  enjoying 
is  an  actual  and  busy  lal'oi'atory,  engaged  in  this  varied  work, 
our  conception  of  the  wonders  of  Nature,  and  especially  of  the 
wonders  of  chlorophyll,  cannot  fail  to  be  immensely  widened. 
There  is,  indeed,  absolutely  nothing  else  in  creation,  nothing  so 
pervasive  and  so  essential  to  life,  which  can  be  compared  to  it ; 
and  the  more  we  investigate,  the  greater  becomes  our  wonder 
and  sense  of  reverence  at  the  creative  power  which  underlies  it. 
From  the  more  microscopic  forms  of  plant  life  to  the  giant 
Cattleya  Statteriana. 
for  us  to  define  the  actual  “  how,”  we  absolutely  know  that 
the  work  is  entirely  done  by  the  green  coloui’ing  matter  itself, 
the  so-called  chlorophyll,  which  is  really  the  simple  Greek  of 
leaf  colour.  Within  the  partially  transparent  cells  which  form  ; 
the  fabric  of  all  leaves  this  colouring  matter  exists  as  an  infinite 
number  of  tiny  green  grains,  which,  under  the  influence  of 
light,  are  enabled  not  only  to  nndtiply,  but  in  some  subtle  way 
to  break  up  or  decompose  the  carbonic  acid  gas  of  the  air, 
which  is  absorbed  by  the  leaves  through  their  pores,  and  such 
salts  as  may  be  contributed  from  the  soil  through  the  roots; 
and  also  to  recombine  their  elements  in  infinite  ways  to  form 
woody  and  leafy  tissue,  and,  in  short,  build  up  the  plant  on  i 
wider  and  wider  lines. 
If  we  pause  a  moment  to  consider  the  infinite  variety  of 
Sequoia,  it  is  the  tiny  green  grains  which,  in  conjunction  with 
the  formative  cell,  the  twin  vonders  of  creation,  enable  them 
to  exist  and  reproduce  themselves  ;  and,  as  we  have  already  indi¬ 
cated,  in  those  lowly  forms  of  plant  life,  the  fungi,  which 
manage  to  exist  without  their  actual  presence  within  their 
substance,  they  can  only  do  so  by  feeding,  as  carnivoious  ani¬ 
mals  do,  on  organic  matter  previously  shaped  by  chlorophyll, 
and  conk-quently  charged  with  nutritive  elements.  The  green 
leaf,  in  short,  forms  the  link  ’twixt  solar  forces  and  life  itselt, 
and  in  viewing  the  wide  expanse  of  verdure  of  lull  and  dale  and 
field  and  forests  in  their  spring  and  summer  garb,  we  are  the 
actual  witnesses  of  the  wondrous  process  of  transformation 
upon  which  our  very  existence  and  that  of  life  in  every  other 
form,  is  absolutely  dependent.— Chas.  T.  Druery. 
