justified in working still with the old
theory.

[90] 2 Cor. v. 17.

[91] 1 John v. 18; 1 Pet. i. 3.

[92] Col. iii. 9, 10.

[93] 2 Cor. iii. 18.

[94] Rom. viii. 29.

SEMI-PARASITISM.

"The Situation that has not its Duty, its Ideal, was never yet
occupied by man. Yes, here, in this poor, miserable, hampered,
despicable Actual, wherein thou even now standest, here or nowhere
is thy Ideal: work it out therefrom; and working, believe, live, be
free."--_Carlyle._

"Work out your own salvation."--_Paul._

"Any new set of conditions occurring to an animal which render its
food and safety very easily attained, seem to lead as a rule to
degeneration."--_E. Ray Lankester._

Parasites are the paupers of Nature. They are forms of life which will
not take the trouble to find their own food, but borrow or steal it from
the more industrious. So deep-rooted is this tendency in Nature, that
plants may become parasitic--it is an acquired habit--as well as
animals; and both are found in every state of beggary, some doing a
little for themselves, while others, more abject, refuse even to prepare
their own food.

There are certain plants--the Dodder, for instance--which begin life
with the best intentions, strike true roots into the soil, and really
appear as if they meant to be independent for life. But after supporting
themselves for a brief period they fix curious sucking discs into the
stem and branches of adjacent plants. And after a little experimenting,
the epiphyte finally ceases to do anything for its own support,
thenceforth drawing all its supplies ready-made from the sap of its
host. In this parasitic state it has no need for organs of nutrition of
its own, and Nature therefore takes them away. Henceforth, to the
botanist, the adult Dodder presents the degraded spectacle of a plant
without a root, without a twig, without a leaf, and having a stem so
useless as to be inadequate to bear its own weight.

In the Mistletoe the parasitic habit has reached a stage in some
respects lower still. It has persisted in the downward course for so
many generations that the young forms even have acquired the habit and
usually begin life at once as parasites. The Mistletoe berries, which
contain the seed of the future plant, are developed especially to
minister to this degeneracy, for they glue themselves to the branches of
some neighboring oak or apple, and there the young Mistlet