322 On the Buds and Ramifications of Plants^ 



stratum of the wood ; for the latter quits its inucilaginoiis 

 state slowly, and its tubes have not straightened themselves 

 by a great effort : on the contrary, they retain their curva- 

 ture around the prolongations, as may be readily seen. The 

 straightening, however, and compression of the tubes of the; 

 liber one against the other, ought to be attended with this 

 necessary consequence, that the prolontjalions should he 

 more or less pressed ; and as this is repeated every year in 

 the formation of the new ligneous strata, the result must be, 

 that not only a certain number of prolongations are at length 

 stifled, but also that the quantity increases in proportion as 

 the twig becomes a branch, and as the latter acquires more 

 size. This opinion appears to me to be very well founded, 

 for we observe that the number of the buds is generally in 

 the inverse ratio of the age of the branch : nature will have 

 it that this number should decrease more and more every 

 year, and she fixes a period at which branches generally 

 cease altogether to produce any. On this rule, modified 

 according to the nature of each species of vegetable, and 

 according to the particular circumstances under which the 

 plants are placed, depends in a great measure the habitus of 

 the vegetables. Nature rarely deviates from this law: there 

 are, however, some exceptions ; and it sometimes happens 

 that it retains, in case of need, some of these prolongations, 

 which have not expanded into buds during the first years ot 

 the branch. If, for example, the sap rises in too great 

 abundance, or if it be too nourishing, especially when the 

 tree cannot sufficiently discharge it, such of these prolonga- 

 tions as are not stifled acquire vigour, lengthen themselves 

 towards the bark, pierce it, and give birth to gluttonous 

 branches, or branches with false wood, which often preserve 

 the tree from plethoric diseases which might become mortal. 

 The birth of these twigs explains to us, in my opinion, why 

 the buds from which they have been produced are always 

 thin and herbaceous ; why they almost always expand very 

 speedily, and often out of season ; and why they do not 

 adhere firmly to the tree. It appears besides, that my opi- 

 nion on the question itself is confirmed by the considera- 

 tion, that if nature forms more wood than usual, and very 

 thick zones, the branches commonly give fewer buds the 

 following year : but nature seems then to gain on the one 

 hand what it loses on the other ; for' it multiplies then the 

 number of the young branches, which, as we know, produce 

 more buds than any other part of the vegetable. Another 

 observation, which renders my opinion still more probable, 

 is, that I have seen at the lower part of the branches, and 



the 



