310 Experiments and Obfervations 
reafon of its fize and fpecific gravity, refts upon the 
lower furface, ) 
I am, dear Sir, 
With great regard, your's, 
THOMAS BEDDOES, 
BRISTOL HOT WELLS, 
NOV. 1» 1793, 
Experiments and Osservations on the VEGETATION 
of Szzps. By Mr. Joun Goucu.—Communicated 
by Dr. Home. 
READ, FEBRUARY 21, 1794. 
VERY one, at all acquainted with natural 
hiftory, knows that the feeds of many plants 
will, after lying in the ground for many years in 
a ftate of perfect inactivity, fpring up, when the foil 
is broken, in full vigour, and with a profufion, that 
fhews the earth to have contained them in great 
numbers. Reflecting on this curious phenomenon 
in July 1787, I made the following experiment, 
with a view to difcover, what are the contingent 
circumftances, that give life and energy to the vege- 
tative principle in the embryos of plants. 
Experiment 
