Plant-life, with 74 full-page illus., 24 being from photos, by the author and 50 in colour from drawings . t they are herbs,but there are tropical species which attain the propor-tions of shrubs and even trees. The reader, however,will have observed that eminence in the scale of lifedoes not consist in magnitude, but is evidenced byspecialization and adaptation to high uses. Man is 28 218 PLANT-LIFE pigmy beside an elephant, yet he is much further ad-vanced. He can perform greater feats by the exerciseof his inteUigence than an elephant can manage bybrute strength. The humbly proportioned Dais
Plant-life, with 74 full-page illus., 24 being from photos, by the author and 50 in colour from drawings . t they are herbs,but there are tropical species which attain the propor-tions of shrubs and even trees. The reader, however,will have observed that eminence in the scale of lifedoes not consist in magnitude, but is evidenced byspecialization and adaptation to high uses. Man is 28 218 PLANT-LIFE pigmy beside an elephant, yet he is much further ad-vanced. He can perform greater feats by the exerciseof his inteUigence than an elephant can manage bybrute strength. The humbly proportioned Daisy cansucceed where a mammoth Sequoia would be utterly ata loss. We have now arrived at the end of our rapid reviewof the gamut of plant-life. We have seen plant-life inits simplest forms, and traced it to its highest expres-sion. To some extent we have observed the stages ofprogress, but we have not explained the greatest of allphenomena—Life itself. To do so, we should have toenter the realm of metaphysics, and indulge in a dis-cussion which has no rightful place in a volume suchas this. Plate V .,: + J^f^*^^^ .^4H ^ 141^ (.y 1 ,:/. SEA-MILKWORT (G/aux mantima). Order Flowei, enlarged i. Fniit, enlarged if. BROOKWEED (Samolus valenmdi), Obdkr ¥:. 3. CipsLile dehiscing, from above 5. Longitudinal section of nvary 4. Petal C. BOG PIMPERNEL {.i,u,g„I/i! ini,//.i), Ordir (). Part of flower, showing hairy stamens 7. Pistil CHAPTER VIII FOSSIL PLANTS Any conclusions we have readied, in respect to thegamut of plant forms have, up to the present point,been based upon structural details, but our study couldhardly be complete without some reference to the testi-mony of the rocks. Fossil Botany within recent yearshas received marked attention at the hands of specialists,and some important discoveries in regard to the plantlife of past ages have been made. The study, althoughit has yielded valuable results, is as yet in its
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbotany, bookyear1915
