27S THE ORIGIN AND 



formed in the axil of the leaf. They are not, how- 

 ever, all protruded during the succulent state of the 

 stem and branch, but many remain latent, performing 

 so much of their functions only as is requisite to or- 

 ganize to their proper structure a certain portion of 

 each successive annual layer of wood, and carry them 

 forward in the embryon state ; until circumstances oc- 

 cur favorable to the completion of their organization 

 and protrusion on the surface of the stem ; or until 

 some accident destroys them, when instead of being 

 carried forward they remain buried beneath the suc- 

 ceeding layers of the wood. 



If buds be not pre-organized germs, nor formed 

 from the descending proper juice, how then do they 

 originate . p In vital points, generated, in the first period 

 of the growth of the stem and branch, in the axils of 

 the leaves : or, that they are, to use the language of 

 Darwin, distinct individuals, the lateral or viviparous 

 progeny of the parent upon whose surface they appear. 

 The individuality of buds must have been suspected 

 as early as the discovery of the art of budding ; and 

 it is fully proved by the dissection of plants. The vi- 

 tal energy, however, which commences the process 

 of organization in the bud, is not necessarily confined 

 to the germ, nor distinct from that which maintains 

 the growth of the entire plant ; but it is so connected 

 with organization, that when this has proceeded a cer- 

 tain length, the bud may be removed from the parent 

 and attached to another, where it will become a branch 

 the same as if it had not been removed ; or, with prop- 

 er care, it may be made to grow in the earth, and be- 

 come an entire plant, with all the properties and ex- 

 ternal characters of the parent. 



Before organization commences in the germ, it is, 

 as we have seen, an insulated speck, covered by the 

 epidermis only, and connected with the other parts of 



