The Speech of Monkeys

In some forms of vegetation the selection of food of certain kinds and the aversion to other certain kinds, would indicate that the organism is capable of design and purpose in a degree perhaps much higher than some of the lowest forms of the animal kingdom. The reaching out of roots in search of food in the earth, the opening and closing of leaf and bloom, seeking the moisture and carbon from the atmosphere, suggest a feeble expression of desire. The choice of food is so well defined in some plants as to indicate a power of selection far greater than some protozoans exercise. It is a known fact that a change of food and conditions often modify a plant in such degree as to make it difficult to recognise except by the technical laws of classification, and yet its identity is not lost. Such changes do not effect all plants in the same degree, as some of them will undergo a change of diet or conditions without material effect. In many instances a marked dislike to certain kinds of food has been observed, and the sensitiveness of some plants is shown in the foliage, bloom, and even in the roots. [Sidenote: LANGUAGE OF THE MINERAL KINGDOM]