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it from their own proper fubftance ; which the plan- 

 tule receives and draws to itfelf, by an infinite num- 

 ber of little filaments or ramifications, called funes 

 umbllicak's, or navcl-ftrings, which it fends into the 

 body of the placenta. 



The cotyledons, for the mofl: part, abound with a 

 balfam difpofed in proper cells \ and this feems to be 

 oil brought to itsgreateft perfeclion, while it remains 

 humid, and then lodged in thei'e repofitories ; one 

 partof rhe compofition of this balfiim is oily and te- 

 nacious, and ferves to defend the embryo from any 

 extraneous inoifture, and by its vifcidity, to. entangle 

 and retain that fine, pure, volatile fpirit, which is 

 the ultimate produdion of the plant. 

 This oil is never obferved to enter into the vefTels of 

 the embryo, which are too fine to admit fo thick a 

 fluid, but this ferves topreferve the growing quality of 

 the feed. The fpirit, however, being quickened by 

 an aftive power, may poffibly breathe a vital princi- 

 ple into the juices that nourifh the embryo, and ftamp 

 upon it the charafter that diftinguifbes the family ; 

 after which every thing is changed into the proper 

 nature of that particular plant. That this fpirit now 

 is truly the efficacious part, is evident, for when that 

 is gone oft, the oil that remains is quite vapid and in- 

 active. It is this that gives plants their fragrant fmcll 

 and peculiar talles, nor do their particular colours a 

 little depend upon it. 



Now when the Seed is committed to the earth, the 

 placenta ftill adheres to the embryo for fome time, 

 guards it from the accefs of nOxious colds, &c. and 

 even prepares and purifies the cruder juice the plant is 

 to receive from the earth, by ftraining it, &c. thro' 

 its own body. ' - 



This it continues to do, till 'the placcntula being a 

 little inured to its new element, and its root tolerably 

 fixed in the ground and fit to abibrb the juice thereof, 

 it then p^rifhes, and the plants may be faid to be de- 

 livered j fo that nature obferves the fame method in 



plants contained in fruits, as in animals in the mo- 

 ther's womb. 



It is very furprifing, how many forts of Seeds will 

 continue good for feveral years, and retain their grow- 

 ing faculty, whereas many other forts will •not grow 

 when they are more than one year old j which is, in 

 a great meafure, owing to their abounding more or 

 lefs with oiVas alfo the nature bf the oil, whether it 

 is of a cold or hot quality, and the texture of their 

 outward covering. As for example ; the Seeds of 

 Cucumbers, ^*lf Ions, and Gourds, which have thick 

 horny coverings, and the oil of this Seed being of a 

 cold nature, continue good eight or ten years; and 

 Radifli, Turnep, Rape, &c, with other oily Seeds 

 (whofe coats, though they afj^ npt/fo hard and clofe 

 as the others,^ yet) abounding with oil, which is of a 

 warmer nature, \he Seeds will keep good three or four 

 years ; wliereas the Seeds of Parfley, Carrots, Parf- 

 neps, and moft other umbelliferous -plants, whofe 

 Seeds are, for the mofl part, of a warm nature, and 

 have little oil in them, lofe their growing faculty often 

 in one year, but feldom remain good longer than two 

 years. Indeed all forts of Seeds are preferved bell, if 

 kept in the pods or hufks wherein they grow ; efpe- 

 ially if they are not feparated from the placenta, to 

 which they are faflened by an umbilical cord, thro' 

 which they received their nourifhment in their em- 

 br}-o*ftate ; fo that whoever would fend Seeds toadif- 

 tant country, fliould always. take c^re they are full 

 ripe before they are gathered, and that they are pre- 

 ferved in their pods or huflcs ; and when they are 

 packed up for exportation, there fliould be great care 

 taken; that they are not fliut up too clofely^from the 

 air; which is abfolutely neceffary to maintain the 

 principle of vegetation in the Seed (though m a lefs 

 degree) as it isto nourilli the plant when germinated, 

 as I have^found by trying the following experiment, 

 viz. Having faved a parcel *of frefh Seeds of feveral 

 kinds, as Lettuce, ParQey, Onions, &c. 1 took a 

 parcel of each kind, and put into glafs phials ; thefe 

 I flopped down clofe, and fealed hermetically, then 



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put them up In a trunk ; the other parts of the fame 

 feeds I put into bags, and hung them up in 'a dry 

 room, where the air had free admittance, in which 

 place they remained a whole year ; and in the follow- 

 ing fpring I took out a part of each parcel of feeds 

 from the phials, as alfo from the bags, and fowed 

 them at the fame time, and upon the fame bed where 

 they had an equal advantage of fun, air, &c. The 

 refult of this experiment was, thatalmofl all the feeds 

 which I took out of the bags grew extremely well, 

 but of thofe which were kept in the phials not one 

 came up ; after which, I fowed the remaining part 

 of the feeds in the phials, but had not one fincrle 

 plant from the whole, whereas thofe preferved in the 

 bags grew very well both the fecond and third years. 

 And this experiment was afterward tried by one of 

 my particular friends, with whom the efi'eft was the 

 lame as with me. And fome years after this, a gen- 

 tleman of great eminence for his knowledge of plants, 

 being very defirous to procure Seeds from every 

 , country, where the Britifli nation had any commerce, 

 gave his inftruftions to all the agents abroad, to 

 lend him over all the forts of Seeds they could col- 

 left in their different countries, and to put them up 

 in botdes, fealing the mouths of the bottles as dole 

 as pofTible, to exclude the air; which was done by 

 feveral of his correfpondents, who fcnt him great 

 quantities of Seeds, but not one of them grew when 

 they w^re fown ; fo that thofe perfons who lend Seeds 

 to a diltant country, fhould never be guilty of the 

 like error. 



Thefe experiments prove, that all Seeds require fome 

 Ihare of frefli air, to keep the germen in a healthy 

 ftate • and that where the air is abfolutely excluded, 

 the vegetative quality of the Seeds will fbon be loft ; 

 therefore the anointing of the Seeds, or covering them 

 - over with fat or oil, fhould not be praftifed; for as 

 this will in a great meafure fhut up the pores of the 

 Seeds, it will prevent the tranfpiration and infpiration 

 of air, whereby the feeds will foon be fpoiled. 

 The earth, which is the natural nurfe to all Seeds, 

 will preferve them much longer than any other body, 

 provided they are buried fo deep, as to be beyond the 

 influence of fun and fhowers, whereby they are pre- 

 vented from vegetating. I have known feeds of fe- 

 veral plants remain buried three feet deep above twen- 

 ty years, and when turned up to the air, have grown 

 as well as frefh Seeds; and a particular friend of 

 ;mine fliewed me a fpot of ground, which was covered 

 ^with Corn-fallad, the Seeds of which he afiured me 

 .had been buried thirty-two years" in tliat place, and 

 . when turned up again to the air, were as productive as 

 . new Seeds, :: 







How the vegetative life is fo long preferved in Seeds, 

 by being fo deeply Jmmerfed in the ground, ife very 

 _ difficult to explain ; but as the fact is very notorious, 

 . it well accounts for the production of plants out of 

 earth taken from, the bottom of vaults, houfes, and 

 wells ; and from the earth which has been taken at a 

 very great depth in thofe places, there have been ma* 

 ny plants produced, which were not inhabitants of ' 

 the neighbouring foil ; and this has been brought as a 

 proof to fupport the doftrine of fpontaneous produc- 

 tions, by fome who have afTertcd, that plants are of- 

 ten produced without Seed. ' . . 

 The earth which has been brouo-ht to England, from 

 very difrant countries, having many of the Seeds of 

 thofe plants which grew in thofe places buried there- 

 in, when this has been placed in a proper degree of 

 heat and fpread abrciad, the Seeds have vegetated, 

 and great numbers of plants have come up ; whereby 

 many plants, which would have efcaped the notice of 

 thofe perfons who collect Seeds to fend to Europe, 

 have been obtained. 



A method for raiftng fuch Seeds whiih have h or d coats or 

 Jhells furrbunding them^ and that have been judged very 

 difficulty if not impoffible^ to be raifed in England. ■ 



> < 





In the year 1724, I had a parcel of frefli Cocoa-nuts 

 given me, which were brought over fromBarbadoes: 



12 P' ' "part 



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