Whether the organism stands at rest and life comes to it on the
material currents of the winds and waters, or in the vibratory
energy of the æther; or, again, whether with restless craving it
hurries hither and thither in search of it, matters nothing. The
one principle—the accelerative law which is the law of the
organic—urges all alike onward to development, reproduction and
death. But although the individual dies death is not the end; for
life is a rhythmic phenomenon. Through the passing ages the waves
of life persist: waves which change in their form and in the
frequency to which they are attuned from one geologic period to
the next, but which still ever persist and still ever increase.
And in the end the organism outlasts the generations of the
hills.
101
THE BRIGHT COLOURS OF ALPINE FLOWERS [1]
IT is admitted by all observers that many species of flowering
plants growing on the higher alps of mountainous regions display
a more vivid and richer colour in their bloom than is displayed
in the same species growing in the valleys. That this is actually
the case, and not merely an effect produced upon the observer by
the scant foliage rendering the bloom more conspicuous, has been
shown by comparative microscopic examination of the petals of
species growing on the heights and in the valleys. Such
examination has revealed that in many cases pigment granules are
more numerous in the individuals growing at the higher altitudes.
The difference is specially marked in Myosotis sylvatica,
Campanula rotundifolia, Ranunculus sylvaticus, Galium cruciatum,
and others. It is less marked in the case of Thymus serpyllum and
Geranium sylvaticum; while in Rosa alpina and Erigeron alpinus no
difference is observable.[2]
In the following cases a difference of intensity of colour is,
according to Kerner ("Pflanzenleben," 11. 504), especially
noticeable:— _Agrostemma githago, Campanula
[1] _Proc. Royal Dublin Society_, 1893.
[2] G. Bonnier, quoted by De Varigny, _Experimental Evolution_,
p. 55.
102
pusilla, Dianthus inodorus (silvestris), Gypsophila repens, Lotus
corniculatus, Saponaria ocymoides, Satureja hortensis, Taraxacumm
officinale, Vicia cracca, and Vicia sepium._
To my own observation this beautiful phenomenon has always
appeared most obvious and impressive. It appears to have struck
many unprofessional observers. Helmholtz offers the explanation
that the vivid colours are the result of the brighter sunlight of
the heights. It has been said, too, that they are the direct
chemical effects of a more highly ozonized atmosphere. The latter
explanation I am unable to refer to its author. The following
pages contain a suggestion on the matter, which occurred to me
while touring, along with Henry H. Dixon, in the Linthal district
of Switzerland last summer.[1]