325 



the plant itself; and according to Dr. Brewster, It is analogous to the siliceous 

 deposit in Equisetum, exhibiting similar phenomena. 



Whatever is known of the motions of the fluids of vegetables has been neces- 

 sarily a matter of inference, rather than the result of direct observation ; for who 

 could ever actually see the sap of plants move in the vessels destined to its con- 

 veyance % It is true that it was known to botanists that a certain Abbe Corti 

 of Lucca, had, in 1774, published some remarkable observations upon the cir- 

 culation of fluid in some aquatic plants, and that the accuracy of this state- 

 ment had been confirmed by Dr. Treviranus so long ago as 1817 ; but the fact 

 does not seem to have attracted general attention until the publication, by 

 Amici, the celebrated professor at Modena, of a memoir in the 18th volume of 

 the Transactions of the Italian Society, which was succeeded by another in 

 the 19th. From all these observers it appears, that if the stems of any trans- 

 parent species of Cham, or of any opaque one, the incrustation of which is 

 removed, are examined with a good microscope, a distinct current will be seen 

 to take place in every tube of which the plant is composed, setting from the 

 base to the apex of the tubes, at the rate, in Chara vulgaris, of about two lines 

 per minute (v. Ann. des Sc. 2. 51. line 9) ; and according to Treviranus this 

 play is at any time destroyed by the application of a few drops of brandy, by 

 pressure, or by any laceration of the tube. This is the nature of the singular 

 phenomena which are to be seen in Characese, and which become the more 

 interesting because they are not to be found in any other water-plants, with the 

 exception of Naias and Caulinia. Those who are anxious to become acquainted 

 with the details of Amici's observations will find his first paper translated in 

 the Annates de Cliimie, 13. 3S4, and his second in the Ann, des Sc. 2. 41 ; that 

 of Treviranus is to be found in the latter work, 10. 22. According to the last 

 named author, these facts lead to the conclusion that there is a primitive vitality 

 in amorphous organic matter, which is antecedent to the formation of all 

 organic beings, and is in its turn produced by them, to serve, according to cir- 

 cumstances, either for the support or enlargement of the individual, or for the 

 production of a new organization. This vitality is manifested in movements 

 which may appear to take place without rule or object, but which are differ- 

 ently modified, according to the differences of organic bodies ; all which seems 

 to show that the vital principle is originally susceptible of a variety of modiflca 

 tions, without having occasion for the assistance of organs of va'rious forms or 

 structure. 



Geography. The creation of plants of this order would appear to have 

 been of a very recent date, compared with that of Ferns and Palms, or even 

 Algze, if we are to judge by their fossil remains, which are found for the first 

 time in the lower fresh water formation, along with numerous Dicotyledonous 

 plants resembling those of our own times. In the recent Flora, of the world 

 they make their appearance every where in stagnant waters, in Europe, Asia, 

 and Africa, in North and South America, in New Holland, and in either India. 

 They are most common in temperate countries, 



Properties. Unknown. 



Examples. Nitella, Chara. 



