The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1912-01-20
ARTICLE u.

In a previous article it was pointed
out that trees are living, working be-
ings, and that insofar as the essentials
OF life are concerned. they do not diff
fer much from other living things:
but trees are highly organized. and in
the scale of plant life they stand at
the top.
When We begin to consider the or
ganization of life. We come to one of
the most important factors in life
forms. When We say that this form OF
life is higher than that. We mean that
than that. If We descend the scale OF
either plant or animal life to the simp-
lest forms. we find that each consists
OF single cell, be it plant or animal,
we call unorganized. or more accurate
ly. undifferentiated. Such simple
forms of life are capable of perform
ing all the functions Of life. that is.
they can take nourishment, they grow,
they have the power OF movement.
they breathe and when they reach ma
turity they divide in two and. the two
thus formed are young plants.
Such simple forms of plant life may
be seen, growing on the bark on the
north sides of trees, and look like
green paint.
A very eloquent American orator
once said in discussing Darwin and
Evolution, why. there are some ami
mails SO simple in structure that they
see without eyes, hear without ears,
walk without feet, breathe without
lungs, eat without mouths, digest
without stomachs and multiply by sim
pie division" Now, while this Is most
ly elocution, to be sure, this man had
gotten hold of what is meant by I'M
organized or undifferentiated life.
Now, when plants consist of hun
dreds and thousands of cells, and
therefore have length, breadth and
thickness, some of these cells must be
in the interior of the plant and cut off
from food supply which must come
from outside and therefore, as Stras-
burger says, 1T is impossible, for pure
J.
should bear the same relation to the
outer world" Those that exist on the
exterior not only must supply them
selves with food, etc., but those in the
| interior as we'll, and those in the IN
terror being relieved of this labor may
take up the work of transferring food
/ from the surface to different regious
of the interior. This necessary divis'
ion of labor has given rise to organs
both external and internal. The re-
suit is that while the same work is
done in the simpler forms, yet the
quality of the work is better. 1t is the
same in human society. That com
munity has reached the highest de-
! velopment whose labor is most divid'
ed. In communities like this, the ply
stefan is no longer the dentist, neither
is the surgeon the barber. The dry
; goods merchant does not sell sugar,
nor does the grocer sell shoes. In other
words, as the population of a com
munity increases, business must be
done by more people, and hence Of ne
cessity, labor is divided. This not on
ly improves the quality of the work
| but makes it possible for each Per
son engaged in any kind of business
| whatever, to reach his highest eff
cheney. 1t is exactly this way when
| plants come to be composed of many
cells instead of one. The labor must
, be divided and the different kinds OF
work given to special sets of cells
This too, improves the quality OF work
and makes it possible for every cell or
set of cells to reach its highest ef-
ficiency just in proportion as the labor
it does is all directed toward the do
ing of one thing.
This, then, is the basis for the class
ification of plants and animals. The
plant or animal, the labor of whose
life functions has been most divided,
or in whose body cell specialization
has been carried farthest, stands high
est in the scale of life which it repre-
sents. For this reason, we say that
an oak is a higher form of plant life
than a fern and a fern higher than a
moss.
Every one can see that tree has
is below the ground and that which is
above. Coulter calls these the root"
and the shoot" These two regions
are very much unlike. The one works
in the dark and the other in the light.
The one deals with soil and water, the
other with light and air. The one
avoids the light. the other seeks it.
The character and form of each are
determined by the medium in which
each does it's work.
The roots have two functions, or
rather, there are two kinds of roots,
each with function of its own. The
larger roots act as anchors, and the
smaller ones as absorbing organs.
Since the ground, through which roots
travel. has hard and soft spots in it.
the roots in following the paths OF the
least resistance become very crooked
and irregular and this gives them
greater ability as anchors; for, when
the wind blows and sways the trees.
crooked roots are harder to pull out
of the ground than straight ones. The