THE CINCINNATUS. 



VOL. II. MARCH 1, 1857. NO. 3. 



THE ROOT. 



The order, harmony, and design, which pervade nature in every 

 part, must be obvious to every observer. Not only are these charac- 

 teristic traits visible in aggregate masses, in respect to their forms, 

 adaptations and ends, but they are equally conspicuous in a survey 

 of their parts — the more minute analysis of their forms, atoms, and 

 chemical combinations. 



In our last number, we briefly noticed the seed in some of its 

 more interesting characteristics — its process of germination and de- 

 velopment. We now propose, with like brevity, to notice the physi- 

 ology of the root; its varied forms acid functions, its sources of 

 nourishment, etc. 



Diversity and uniformity seem strangely blended, and side by side 

 appear, throughout nature's wide domain, imparting a luster, and in- 

 terest and beauty, to every object. To attempt to portray these 

 characteristics, would be vain ; fully to appreciate them, we must 

 experience their charms. To trace the living plant from the time it 

 springs from the seed, until it yields its fruit, and to witness the 

 marks of system and design in the various stages of its progress, 

 can not be without interest to every reflecting mind. 



Botanists have enumerated two distinct modifications of structure 

 in the seeds of the higher forms of plants. In a pea or bean, the 

 bulk of the seed consists of two large bodies in close contact, called 

 seed lobes, or seed leaves — technically, cotyledons. When two of 

 these are present, the plant is dicotyledonous ; when but one, mono- 

 eotyledonous — to the latter belong our grains. Wrapped within 

 these organs, are the rudiments of the future plant. There is a 

 manifest difi'erence in the germination of these diff'erent kinds of 

 seeds ; but in both alike we discover a general tendency of one part 

 VOL. II., III. — 7. (97) 



