g ON THE FOOD OF PLANTS. 



a spacious harbour, from which the assembled family may 



gather in abundance of the most luxuriant grapes. In such 



a situation the seeds of limes, oranges, and lemons, will in 



four or five years produce a shady grove; and mulberry 



trees, when wholly stripped of their leaves for the nutriment 



of silk-worms, will again, in a few days, be covered thick 



with foliage. 



Adanson, in his account of Senegal, informs us, that 



«* when every thing green has been devoured by locusts, not 



a vestige of their destructive progress after a few days can 



be discovered." 



Water decom- From the consideration of these and other faets similar to 



posed both ui them, many distinguished chymists have delivered it as their 



animals and . ■* ° * 



vegetables. opinion, that water is decomposed by vegetables. Mr. 



Chaptal says, " that the decomposition of water is proved, 



not only in vegetables, but in animals also." And for this 



last he quotes the authority of Roudelet. 



But this not That water, as such, enters largely into the composition 



yet demon- f vegetables, is evident; but whether or not, and to what 



extent, it is decomposed, has not, as I apprehend, been yet 



demonstrated. In water meadows, with a plentiful supply 



of running water, vegetation proceeds even in the depth of 



winter, and during the severest frosts; but stagnant water is 



at all times unfriendly to our meadows. Any given quantity 



may remain upon the surface for weeks or months subject to 



decomposition; but instead of being in this state beneficial, 



it is injurious to our crops. In our water meadows we uni<- 



versally observe, that it is not humidity which does good, 



but a thick sheet of water flowing incessantly, night and 



day, (for a certain period) over the surface. 



Probably it is a Hence it seems probable, that water is essential to the 



vehicle of growth of plants, not merely as such, but as it proves a ve- 

 other substan f . , ■ ' ' . . . , 



ces> hide of other substances, which are their proper jood. 



Perhaps car- If we may form a judgment from their analysis, carbon 



bon their chief m a y foe regarded as the chief pabulum of plants; and this 



we know can, in a given proportion, be conveyed to them by 



water. Mr. Chaptal is not only of opinion, that carbonic 



1 acid is essential to their growth, but he affirms, that the base 



of this acid contributes to the formation of the vegetable 



fibre, I(i support of this opinion he observes, that in fungi, 



which 



