All the parts of plants have some special life-work, just as we have legs and arms for different purposes, and every part is formed in some way to suit the needs of the plant and help it to get on well in its home.
The main thing to realise at the beginning of the study of plants is that they are living things, and therefore to try to discover the importance of the shape and arrangement of all their parts and their relation to the life of each plant as a whole.
We will begin by looking carefully for all the signs of life in them, and noting how often these are the same as those of the animals, even though the whole plant-body is so different from that of an animal.
CHAPTER II.
SIGNS OF LIFE
Fig. 1. Jar (A) with well-fitting cork, in which young bean plants are growing. The tube leading from the jar dips into dish of water (s) which has risen to levels marked in the course of three days. (b) Small tube of caustic potash.
If you were asked to give the signs of life in an animal, it is likely that you would think at once of its power of breathing, eating, growing, and moving. Now when we ask the same question about plants the answer does not appear to be quite so easy to find, because at first sight plants do not seem to do any of these things except the growing. However, the same answer would be quite correct for plants, as well as animals, for they are really able to breathe, eat, grow, and move; all you have to do is to watch them in the right way to see that this is the case.