AND OF MPE PRUIT. 343 



buds along with them : whereas the leaves 

 of parts that have received no material injury, 

 and where the vital energy acts with due 

 power, either fall off spontaneously, or are 

 detached by the slightest touch. Plants of 

 hot countries, kept in our stoves, exhibit the 

 same phenomenon when transplanted or 

 otherwise injured, even though not naturally 

 deciduous. 



So when fruits are thoroughly ripened, they 

 become, with respect to the parent plant, 

 dead substances, and, however strongly at- 

 tached before, are then thrown off as extra- 

 neous bodies. Their stalks fade or wither, 

 though the life of the adjoining branch con- 

 tinues unimpaired, and a line of separation 

 is soon drawn. In a poor soil, or unfa- 

 vourable climate, a bunch or spike which 

 should naturally consist of a considerable 

 number of flowers, bears perhaps not half so 

 many. Its upper part very early withers, 

 the vital principle ceases to act at the point 

 beyond which it could not continue to act 

 with effect, and all its energy is directed to 

 perfect what lies within the compass of ils 

 resources. This is evident in Lathyrus odo- 



