neither one enjoys especial preeminence; for neither can undergo
complete development without the other. In very rare cases, the ovum
has been observed to undergo a certain amount of development of itself;
but a perfect individual can be produced only by the union of the two
kinds of elements, which process is known as _fecundation_. The instant
this union occurs, the life of a new individual begins. All the changes
which result between that moment and the birth of the individual are
those of development only. Indeed, the same existence continues from
the instant of the union of the two elements, not only until birth,
but through growth, the attainment of maturity, the decline of life,
and even until death.

It is interesting to observe the different methods by which fecundation
is effected, both in plants and animals, for this is a process common
to both.

Fecundation in Flowers.--The great naturalist, Linnaeus, was the first
to explain the reproductive process in plants. He tells us that "the
flower forms the theater of their amours; the calyx is to be considered
as the nuptial bed; the corolla constitutes the curtains; the anthers
are the testes; the pollen, the fecundating fluid; the stigma of the
pistil, the external genital aperture; the style, the vagina, or the
conductor of the prolific seed; the ovary of the plant, the womb; the
reciprocal action of the stamens on the pistil, the accessory process
of fecundation."

Thus marvelous is the analogy between the reproductive organs and their
functions in plants and animals. Through this one vital process we may
trace a close relation between all the forms of life, from the humblest
plant, or even the mere specks of life which form the green scum upon
a stagnant pool, to man, the masterpiece of creation, the highest of
all animated creatures. In all the realm of Nature there can be found
no more remarkable evidences of the infinite skill and wisdom of the
Creator of all things.

In many instances the action of plants seems almost to be prompted by
intelligence. At the proper moment, the corolla contracts in such a
way as to bring the stamens nearer to the stigma, or in contact with
it, so as to insure fecundation. In some aquatic plants the flowers
elevate themselves above the surface of water while the process of
fecundation is effected; submerging themselves again immediately
afterward.

Other very curious changes occur in flowers of different species during