The  physical  basis  of  life,  Protoplasm,  is  the
same  for  plants  as  for  animals.  The  first  differ-
entiated or  modified  form  of  this  we  meet  with  is
the  curious  animalcule  called  Amoeba.  As  we  watch
its  movements  we  cannot  refrain  from  ascribing  to  it
some  dim  consciousness  of  the  life  it  leads.  But
amoeboid  structure  is  common  even  in  the  lowest
kinds  of  plants,  and  amoeboid  movements  can  be  seen
in  some  of  their  tissues.  Witness  also  the  habits
and  intelligent  movements  of  the  zoospores  of  sea-
weeds and  many  other  Algae,  and  the  locomotion  of
the  antherozoa  of  Mosses,  Ferns,  etc.  Not  many  years
ago  these  objects  were  classed  as  animalcules  on  this


4  SAGACITY  AND  MORALITY  OF  PLANTS.
account,  and  nobody  then  doubted  these  so-called
little  animals  behaved  consciously  and  intelligently.
The  life  of  a  plant,  like  that  of  an  animal,  is  a
series  of  constant  adjustments  between  internal  struc-
ture and  organisation  and  external  surroundings.
The  latter  are  of  such  an  almost  infinitely  variable
and  varying  character  that  we  cannot  wonder  the
adjustments,  or  in  other  words  the  habits,  of  plants
are  so  infinitely  numerous — especially  when  we
remember  the  long  geological  periods  of  time  during
which  the  constant  adaptations  and  modifications
have  been  taking  place.
