• - •N THE. INTKRIOE Or FLlKTi. 



hourly itudy of the disorders in plants, and by th» consider* 

 a^ion of that sort of life which plants possess, that I am 

 very anxious to show the fallacy of it. Wood once reduced 

 r ' - to thib*tate (it stands to reason) could never aj^ain recover; 

 i^ could never throw out buds, it could never again be re- 

 stored to a regular rising oi the gap; for the vessels are so 

 •mail, that, once choked, it would require a miracle indeed 

 to 0{>en them ; and yet it is well known, that a tree may 

 be restored to almost pristine vigour, by a little cutting and 

 care: and then, so far from being in a fixed sstate, every ves- 

 sel of the wood must be moved out ot its phice, must bend 

 in one way or other for the exit oi the buds, the juices must 

 be so plentiful (the sap in pHrticular) as to form albumen to 

 engender and accompany all those buds. Where then i^ its 

 Parts between torpidity ? It is true, that, the older wood grows, the more 



t^« Tcssels j^ jg compressed ; but it is the middle part between the ves- 

 compre8s«d by , , V . , . . , ^ , . « 



health. sels, that is reduced. A very simple proof may be giren of 



this, by cutting the oldest piece of wood, that can be found 

 in a liviisgtree, and placing it in the fire: the quantity of 

 sap, which runs frona each separate vessel, bubbling and 

 spouting out a* soon as the heat acts, will quickly show 

 how full of sap the oldest vessels are. But this very com- 

 pression only more strongly proves the health and strength 

 of the tree; it quickens the circulation of the juices by 



#-, pressing the bastard pipes agajnsj ihe sap vessels, and thus 



gives increased vigour i<) the tree. I will be bound to say, 

 that the passagjP of the vessels was qt^ver suspended in a plant, 

 without causing the gangrene directly, apd very soor> 

 death*. To prove, that 1 am not too hasty in this assertion, 

 I will simply show the general manner of thp death of trees, 



peathofa when they die natupally, and without accident. The first 

 appearance of sickness is the hanging down of the hranche% 

 and leaves: this is followed by a sweetness pervad ng all the 

 different juices of the plant, attracting everv species of insect, 

 -which soon cover and spoil the leaves with their filth: then 

 littlediv'sonnof the wood (orrown weaker than the rest) burst 

 their vessels, and begin a sor^ of rot, which increases dai'yt 

 fhespiral^wires, which attach the leaves to the stem, begin 



tree. 



^w 



•This is so peculiarly the case, that almost all the disorders of trees' 

 se from a stoppage of the circulation in different parts. * 



