THE DUTY OF THE ROOT. 19 
plant also, from being yellow or white, becomes of 
a most refreshing green. 
Nor is the root idle. It pokes its unlighted 
way through the smallest crevices of the soil. 
It absorbs the water which flows down there, 
containing much food for plants in solution; and 
so soon as the leaves above begin to do their 
duties, to maintain the health and life of the 
plant, the root puts out a number of little roots, 
which strike off at right angles, and set out all 
in search of more food for the stem and leaves, 
which, since they are now growing very fast, 
they call for most imperiously. The roots thus 
extend in every direction, until they fill the 
earth below with a mass of the most delicate 
and beautifully white filaments, like fine threads. 
By this time the plant has risen several inches 
above the earth, and is daily putting forth fresh 
leaves, and increasing both in elegance and in 
stature and diameter. It now also fulfils all the 
functions of a perfect plant. 
How has all this train of beautiful events taken 
place? There are two answers to this ques- 
tion, one of which we shall call the anatomical, 
and the other the chemical. Both are of the 
