CHAPTER VI 



DURATION, SURFACE, &c. 



In the preceding chapters, we have seen the embryo 

 of the seed unfolded, and by the combined influence of 

 air, water, and heat, assuming the form of a perfect 

 plant. We have learnt by what agents its growth is 

 promoted, by what substances it is nourished, through 

 what vessels its aliment passes, and into what produc- 

 tions this aliment is converted. It is impossible to 

 pursue this inquiry without interest, for it reveals the 

 nature and extent of those operations which are con- 

 stantly going on in the tender vegetable frame, conver 

 ting the dust of the earth into wholesome nutriment, 

 aud supplying us with the ordinary comforts of life. 



But the paths of Systematic Botany, are equally de- 

 lightful, for they lead us to an acquaintance with those 

 plants, which frequently' fall under our observation, 

 and teach us how to discriminate and how to arrange 

 them. The delineation of an entire vegetable, pre- 

 sents to our view, the root, the stem, and its branches, 

 the leaves and their various appendages, organs which 

 assume almost every shape, and enable us by attending 

 to their varieties, to discriminate between kindred 

 plants. It also exhibits the flower and fruit, with 

 their respective appendages, organs by which the per- 

 petuity of the vegetable kingdom is ensured, and on 

 which the Botanist establishes characters, of the most 

 unquestionable nature. 



