Of l^egetat'wn. 3 1 7 



rcfcarchcs rewarded with very confidcrablc 

 and ufcful difcovcrics. 





CHAP. VII. 



* ' 



1 *< 



t '- 



w 



Of Vegetation. 



E arc but too fenfible, that our rca* 

 fonings about the wonderful and 

 intricate operations of nature are fo full 

 of uncertainty, that as the wife-man truly 

 obferves, hardly do r jue guefs aright at the 

 things that are upon earth, and with labour 

 do we find the things that are before us. 

 Wifdom Chap. ix. v. 16. And this obferva- 

 tion we find fufficiently verified in vege- 

 table nature, whofe abundant productions, 

 tho' they arc moll vifible and obvious to us, 

 yet arc we much in the dark about the nature 

 of them, becaufe the texture of the veifels of 

 plants is fo intricate and fine, that we can 

 trace but few of them, tho' aiTifted with the 

 beft microfcopes. We have however good 

 rcafon to be diligent in making farther and 

 farther rcfearches; for tho' we can never hope 

 to come to the bottom and firft principles of 



things, yet in Co inexhauftible a fubject, where 



4 * every 





* 



