76 OF THE COTYLEDONS. 



Island Pine, the cotyledons are very distinctly four : 

 see/«-. 3. 



The preservation of the vital principle in seeds is 

 one of those wonders of Nature which pass unregarded, 

 from being every day under our notice. Some lose 

 their vegetative power by being kept out of tlie ground 

 ever so little'a wiii!e after they are ripe, and in order 

 to succeed must sow themselves, in their own wav, 

 and at their own time. Odiers may be sent round the 

 world through every vicissitude of climate, or buried 

 for ages deep in the ground, dll favourable circum- 

 stances cause them to vegetate. Great degrees of 

 heat, short of boiling, do not impair the vegetative 

 power of seeds, nor do we know any degree of cold 

 that has such an effect. Those who convey seeds from 

 distant countries, should be instructed to keep them 

 dry; for, if they receive any damp sufficient to cause 

 an attempt at vegetation, they necessarily die, because 

 the process cannot, as they are situated, go on. If, 

 therefore, they are not exposed to so great an artificial 

 heat as might change the nature of their oily juices, 

 they can scarcely, according to the experience of ]\Ir. 

 Salisbury, be kept in too warm a place. By tlie pre- 

 servation of many seeds so long under ground, it seems 

 that lonii-continued moisture is not in itself fatal to 

 their living powers; neither does it cause their prema- 

 ture gern^ination, unless accompanied by some action 

 of the air. 



It is usual v/ith gardeners to keep Melon and Cu- 



