ON THE INTERIOR OF PLANTS. 2^7 



will not therefore arjmit of a doubt ; though I must say it 

 would have appeared to me a greater miracle, that so im- 

 portant a part should do its office and then disappear, than 

 that it should continue its consequence throughout the 



whole life of the plant. Besides, what would become of the It is essentia! 

 , „ 1 • , ^ , • 1. -1 . J to the Titalitf 



buds formed in the trees? It is a tact easily ascertamed, ^f every part 

 that no part can give life without being visited by this line; ofapJknt. 

 neither leaf nor leaf-bud, no part of the root, no part of the 

 atem, but where this identical vessel is found : it runs up 

 each bud to prepare it, as it does in the seeds, and the bud 

 becomes capable of giving life ; because it communicates the 

 same string. Is it not proved, when a leaf-bud by an igno» 

 rant gardener has been mistaken for a flower-bud in bud- 

 ding? Du Hamel in vain endeavoured to make them grow; 

 he bestowed the greatest care, but without effect; it was 

 impossible, for they would not cement, not having that line, 

 which first joins them together. Not so the radicle; pos- 

 sessing that line, which runs through it, if well managed, 

 it will grow with ease. Those large buds also, which the 

 roots of various plants throw up in the spring, such as the 

 peony, &c., if the root did not^end up the line of life, how 

 would they continue their progress? like an excrescence 

 they would decay and moulder away without bringing forth 

 buds. To fix the absolute certainty of this, is of the utmost 

 consequence to botany, particularly to physiology; I shall 

 therefore collect all the reasons, which acted on ray own 

 belief, and persuaded me of this truth : viz. that the lines 

 which run between the pith and the wood are really the 

 lines of life, without which the vegetable cannot exiit. 



1st. It is the line from which all buds whatever take their Proofs ofits ex* 

 rise. 2d. It is the line from which all ra<licles shoot. 3d. '^^^^^c*^ 

 It is that line, which in grafting and budding is first seen to 

 join. If the graft misses, this line turns black, and then no 

 power can save the plant. 4th. If in budding it has not 

 power or strength sufficient to join the new bud to the tree, 

 it dies, and the wood makes no more efforts to unite. 5th, 

 When in a frosty morning the apricots and peaches are hurt, 

 and you wii»h to know whether they will recover; open a few 

 flowers, and if the line of life is black, though the rest of the 

 pistil may be perfectly free from the taint, despair of th« 



Vol. XXVIII.—APRIL, 18H. S greatest 



