^be Stori2 of tbe IRoot 19 



there are countless underground stems ; and all 

 are waiting for the call of spring, to renew their ac- 

 tivity, and clothe the earth with beauty. 



In this cold, forbidding month of January the 

 plant does not refuse to unveil to us some of the ro- 

 mance, the mystery, and the economy of its life. 

 Pull up from some plat of unfrozen earth a few liv- 

 ing roots and hold them against the light, after giv- 

 ing them a slight shake. Tiny particles of earth are 

 now seen about the lower part of the root, not ad- 

 hering to the epidermis, but held, perhaps, a line 

 away, as if the root were covered with a brown- 

 dotted lace veil. Examine closely, with the micro- 

 scope if possible. Each atom of earth is held by a 

 minute hair. These hairs are of great importance 

 in the economy of the root. They adhere so very 

 closely to the soil that they absorb from it the very 

 slightest trace of moisture, if it be no more than 

 such a light film as Avould be found if one breathed 

 against glass. That earth must be dry as lava on 

 Vesuvius at midday from which these hairs could 

 not extract some particles of moisture. In times of 

 great drought these fine hairs allow the plant to 

 gather enough fluid to enaljle them to survive, and 

 when the drooping plant is watered the hairs most 

 speedily gather up and distribute the precious drops. 

 These hairs are tubes, but they are tubes closed at 



