O F N A T U R E. 'jc, 



gardens, thzt planls are prefervcd in 'the fame 

 way. They alfo hinder the fermenting earth 

 from forcing the roots o{ plnnts upwards in the 

 fpring •, as we fee happen annually to trunks 

 of trees, and other things put into the ground. 

 Pence very few mojfes grow in the warmer cli- 

 mates, as not being fo ncccflary to that end in 

 thofe places. 



The Englilhy^^ mat-weed or tnar ran will bear 

 JIG foil but pure fand, which nature has allotted 

 to it. Sand the produce of the fea, is blown 

 \yy winds oftentimes to very remote parts, and 

 deluges, as it were, woods and fields. But 

 where this grafs grows, it frequently fixes 

 the fand, gathers it into hillocks, and thrives 

 fo much, that by means of this alone, at lafl 

 an entire hill of fand is raifed. Thus the 

 fand is kept in bounds, other plants are pre- 

 ferved free from it, the ground is increafed % 



w This obfervation is found in Linn. Flor. Lapp. p. 62. 

 where he fays the Dutch fow this grafs on their fand banks, 

 that the fand may not overwhehn the neighboring part?. 

 I do not fee why this experiment fhould not be tryed on the 

 barren fands in Norfolk, where I am afTured by credible 

 witnefTes, that the fmall cottages are fometimes totally bu- 

 ried under fand during high winds. This grafs grows 

 plentifully along the fea fnorcs in England. Via. Ray, 



and 



