earth and moss. The young plantation,' Mr. Robinson adds, 'is now growing up to a thick grove of oaks, fit for use, and of height sufficient for the crows to build their nests in. On telling the circumstance to the owner of the ground, who observed the acorns to spring up, he took care to secure their growth and rising. The season was the latter end of autumn, when all seeds are fully ripe.'

"Mr. Edwards observes, that even the droughts of the autumn continue to increase and propagate seeds and plants; for, by causing deep chinks or chaps in the earth, the seeds of trees, and larger plants, that require depth, are lodged at proper depths for their growth, and, at the same time, secured from such animals as feed upon them.

"Mice also bury a great number of seeds for their winter stores, many of which vegetate :—

Sæpe exiguus mus

Sub terris posuitque domos, atque horrea fecit :

and some seeds are provided with a sort of down, by which they are carried, with the help of the wind, to great distances; and others fix themselves on the ground, by means of a glutinous substance attached to them.

"It is a curious fact, in proof of what has been advanced, that more recent deposits of earth, such as peat, leaf-mould, &c., produce little or no vegetable substances, while, as has been shown, soil, from whatever depth it is brought, is impregnated with seeds, which grow freely on being exposed to the influence of light and air.”

May not some of the curious and interesting facts above quoted, from an acute observer of Nature, corresponding as they do with similar instances, well known to the naturalist, be referred to the period of the universal Deluge, and account, without difficulty, for the rapid springing up of all kinds of vegetable existences, in their proper localities, after that great catastrophe ? If the soil deposited by the waters of the flood was, to so remarkable an ex

* [Often the little mouse plans his houses, and builds his barns, bethe ground.-AM. ED.]

tent, mixed with seeds, as the impregnation of the earth brought up from the depth of three hundred and sixty feet, and other facts, seem to imply, we shall find little difficulty in accounting for the general diffusion of plants over the face of the earth, each species in the situation suited for its growth, and we shall cease to be astonished that the plants of temperate, and even of Arctic climates, should be found in the higher elevations of the Himmaleh Mountains, the Andes, and other tropical mountain ranges. Among the varieties of seeds thus dispersed and deposited, those exposed on the surface, or within the range of the action of the atmosphere, which were unfit for the soil and climate, would perish, while a single seed, adapted to these conditions, would soon spread over extensive regions.

SECOND WEEK.-SATURDAY.

DEVELOPEMENT OF SEEDS AND PLANTS.

MANY very ingenious experiments have been made by the most eminent chemists to investigate the laws of vegetation, and to analyze the substances employed or produced in the vegetative process; but so much mystery is still connected with the subject, as to render it probable that, beyond a certain point, human ingenuity will never be permitted to penetrate. There are, however, many curious facts, which experiment, and assiduous attention to the subject, have established; and some of the most interesting, and easily comprehended of these, I shall now endeavor to state in a popular manner, abstaining, as much as possible, from scientific details.

In the first place, it has been found that the three great agents in developing the vegetative powers of plants, are water, air, and heat. If any of these agents are absent, the seed will not germinate. If they are present, in certain proportions, the process of germination will, in every instance, proceed through its first stages, without the cooperation of any other substance or property.

Now, observe how these conditions are adapted to the state of external nature. The atmosphere, with which the earth is every where surrounded, is composed of air and watery vapor, the latter of which it gives out, at intervals, in the form of rain, and the former of which exists in such proportions, as always to be at hand for the purposes required; and, with regard to heat, its presence, at certain periods of the year, in greater quantity than at others, gives rise to all the grateful vicissitudes of the seasons, and exhibits an adaptation full of wisdom and goodness, the nature of which has already been partly considered, and will be still further unfolded as we proceed.

Observe, further, that there are two distinct parts of a plant contained, in embryo, in every seed, the one consisting of the root, and the other of the plume or plumale, or what, when developed, is, in ordinary language, called the stalk of the plant; and, to the growth and perfection of these, different conditions are required, corresponding to the various functions they are destined to perform. The root is intended to execute two important designs, as has been already observed, the one to select nourishment for the plant, the other to fix it firmly in the ground; the plume, on the other hand, has to shoot up into the open air, that it may be conspicuous, and convenient for supplying the wants of animal life, and may thus fulfil its appointed office in the wonderful economy of Nature. Here, again, there is an adjustment, which clearly indicates intention, in the proportions in which the three essential elements are required. The root has to exist beneath the surface of the ground, where, indeed, air and heat, as well as water exist, but by no means in the same relative quantities as above the surface; but that is a difference precisely suited to the constitution of this part of the vegetable, and indeed, in some respects, essential to its healthy state. And here is another, and still more remarkable adjustment in the difference which exists between the requirements of the root and plume with reference to external nature; the former demands darkness, the latter light, for its healthy developement.

The

root, having to seek for nourishment under ground, where the solar rays are excluded, is so formed by the All-wise Creator, as to stand in no need of light. It can exist, indeed, when exposed to the day, and even, under peculiar circumstances, in this situation, can expand vigorously; but it covets darkness, and is, obviously, in its most luxuriant, as well as appropriate state, when the light is excluded. It is not so, however, with the plant itself. It is true, that the vegetative process will proceed even in absolute darkness; and this property is of moment, both because the seed is frequently buried so deep that the plume must make considerable progress in its developement, before it emerges to the light of heaven, and also because darkness alternates with light, in consequence of the diurnal revolution of the globe. But light is of essential importance in contributing to the vigor, and to various highly useful, as well as ornamental properties, of plants. "When deprived of light," says Dr. Irvine, "all plants nearly agree in the qualities of their juices. The most pungent vegetables then grow insipid; the highest flavored inodorous; and those of the most variegated colors, are of a uniform whiteness." "Vegeta

bles which grow in a natural situation, burn when dry; but a vegetable bud, in a dark box, contains nothing inflammable." We have here, in few words, the effect of light on vegetation. To this agent, it owes taste, smell, color, and inflammability; the three former qualities obviously adapted to give peculiar gratification to the senses. with which Providence has endowed us; the latter necessary for bestowing upon man that fuel, the use of which at once compensates to him the defective heat of an ungenial climate, and endows him with an amazing power, which enables him to increase his comforts, exalt his enjoyments, and sharpen his faculties, in the advancement of the arts of civilized life.

Another circumstance connected with these properties, is the mysterious principle existing in the seed, by which, in whatever way it is deposited in the soil, it adjusts its position so as to push its plumale upward, and find its way, by the most direct path, to the light of day, while

it sends its root downward, and in lateral directions, with obvious, and, as it were, studied predilections in favor of the most fertile soil, and the securest position for the support of the plant. These properties have attracted the attention, and excited the curiosity, of scientific men; and ` various conjectures have been hazarded with regard to the mechanical or chemical laws by which the opposite tendencies of the different parts of the same plant are regulated. “These tendencies," says the author of an elaborate article on Vegetable Physiology, in the Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica, "have been ascribed to the action of light on the plume, and of earth on the radicle; but the radicle equally descends, although no earth be present, and the plume rises although light be excluded. Others have attributed the descent of the radicle to the greater weight of its sap, and the ascent of the plume to the lighter condition of that fluid; but there is no evidence that, in these parts respectively, any such difference of sap exists. More lately, it has been supposed that gravitation acted in causing the descent of the radicle; and attempts have been made to counteract this force, keeping seeds, during their evolution, in continued motion, on vertical or horizontal wheels; but the results obtained seem only to prove that, in such circumstances, the radicle and plume pursue, as usual, opposite directions, without affording any evidence, why, in natural growth, the one always rises and the other descends." All this leads to the belief, that the principle, which is attempted to be discovered, lies deeper than human reason can easily penetrate, and is probably involved in the mysterious qualities of vegetable life, which the power of the Creator has infused into organized existences of this order.

But there are various other processes not less remarkable, and scarcely less mysterious. The sap is supposed to rise in the plant, as we have said, partly by means of capillary attraction, and partly also by means of some unknown vital property, supposed to be a contractile power in the vegetable tissue. The temperature of the atmosphere is of essential importance for promoting this