ROOTS OF THE ORCHIS. 105 



removal. Still more difficult is it to transplant others 

 of this family which have three pairs of these bulbs that 

 flower in succession, and it is probable that such plants 

 have never been removed except in connexion with 

 their native earth.* 



" If a pair of these knobs is"separated, and then immer- 

 sed in water, the one will be found to sink and the oth- 

 er to swim. This is a phenomenon that seems to 

 have puzzled the simplists of antiquity not a little ; and 

 to have given rise to many idle and superstitious con- 

 jectures. It was thought that the knob that swims 

 must necessarily have possessed some peculiar and po- 

 tent properties, and accordingly some potent properties 

 were very liberally ascribed to it. If prepared in a 

 particular manner and worn about any one's person, it 

 was believed to have the singular property of exciting, 

 by means of proper management, a violent attachment 

 to the wearer in the breast of any one he pleased. And 

 this belief is still a vulgar error among the ignorant and 

 superstitious ; though the sinking of the one knob, and 

 the swimming of the other, have been accounted for 

 from the regular operation of natural causes, and the 

 mystery and magic charm of the phenomenon altogether 

 dissolved. 



From the swimming knob which was generated in 

 the course of the preceding year, the plant of the pres- 

 ent year, together with the sinking knob, has sprung ; 

 but by this means the substance of the first has become 

 exhausted, and specifically lighter than water, and on 

 this account it swims. The other which is still firm 



* Dr. Smith observes, that they have " not been found to sur- 

 vive transplantation, " but it has been stated in reply, that inclos- 

 ed in a ball of their original earth, they may be removed with 

 safety, and that the experience of Scotch gardeners has demon** 

 strated the truth of the latter assertion. 



