ON THE INTERIOR OF PI A NTS. H 



first shooting, and of course the lower pftft of the wound i's 

 not at all incrensed in size. This appears to me perfectly 

 the truth, I have dissected many pieces jjrown in this way, » 



and they have at ways proved such as 1 have described abore; 

 it is therefore a proof which militates against the return of 

 the sap vessels, rather than for it. The manner of the forming 

 of the bud is also much against it, and I know not a sin- 

 g-le reason for it. Perfectly to understand the formation 

 of the ju.ces and to be able to separate their differ- 

 ent parts and analyze them as they should be, is at present 

 my roost anxious wish. There are in all plahts four different Your different 

 torts of juices, which should with the greatest care be 4ept sorts ofjuic« 

 asunder; I have some curious details in this respect, though '"^ P'*"'** 

 scarcely yet worth\ to belaid before the public; but I hope 

 my next experiments will be more exact, however I pro- 

 cured some ve»-y curious crystals of a peculiar shape, by 

 means of subjecting the juices of the line of life to a very 

 strong heat, and afterwards cooling it very gently ; but I 

 hope to procure bettfer information; for 1 am but an indif- 

 ferent chemist, though often dabbling in the science. 



Though 1 have not in my last two letters taken notice of 

 the foundation on which my studies rest, that for which I 

 principally undertook to give the dissection of the interior 

 of plants, that which appears to me to be the fundamental 

 and systematic part gf bptany, "the natural affinity of plants 



to each other," yet 1 have not forgotten it. 1 continue to N**""'«fl«- 



. , , . . ■ n>tj of pUntt, 



pursue it with the most exact care, noticmg with attention 



each copnejiion; and strong lines indeed does the formation 



of buds draw between plant and plant, as 1 shall soon show; 



^iicpuraging my hopes of finding something like a plafl, on 



which a system may be discovered, without expanding into 



rules too dirfuse to serve such a purpose. That the great- 



^t, t\)e pfiost scientific l^otaoist will e_v€r,^?e able to make 



one generally useful, and to supercede all artificial methods, 



I much doubt, when such a master as Jnssicu has failed, 



tutthutone of morehumb'e pretensions may be found ; 1 am 



ftill most sanguine in ray hopes, since the more I disftfti 



the more proofs of that system 1 find in nature. 



I am. Sir, your obliged humble servant, 



AGNES IBBEISON. 



- * JExplanoHon, 



