280 A neiv f-lew of Vegetable Life. 



ture does, is to render each individual part Jess dhthict : still, 

 however, they were suffic-ientlv so, to he perfectly perceptil)le to 

 Sir William Ilerscliel, who said he thouglit there could he 110 

 doubt that it was the cntilinualiou of veoetn/'ion on the glass. 

 This was indeed a i^rcnt matter {jaiiied, espefially when ao 

 witnessed. Sir William Herichcl aKo did me the honour to see 

 the first specimen. 



Fig. 2 was the spoiled piece, which h:ul however increased to 

 fig. <i. Fig. 4 was one of" the specimci's Sir ^^'illiam examined, 

 which was increased in three days to fig. 5; and another which I 

 have not added, fearful of augmenting loo much the nmnher of 

 specimens. Indeed the collection of flowers on the glass was 

 evidence sufScient of the fact; for no power hut their own could 

 place them there. The white specimen might he, and was laid 

 on the glass; hut the rest could not he cither taken off or put 

 on, unhurt, without Nature's help. 



On further examination I found that, if I ivalched ivitk great 

 exactness, drops of moisture were to he seen ejected from the 

 many cut ends of the line of life ; and that w hen the more dimi- 

 nutive lines of that part increased in length, wherever the liquid 

 had fallen, and the douljle line also passed through it, hunches 

 of fiou-ers had protruded, till they hccame either wreaths or 

 bouquets, running and growing in a fanciful manner as long as 

 the moisture would sustain or assist in ffitming them; some- 

 times even more than a week. It could no longer l;c a douht-!' 

 ful fact ; for on examining the talcs and glasses I found them 

 covered with different beautiful patterns, which had proceeded 

 from all the specimens accidentally throv^'n on the surface ; and 

 so opposite is the jelly-like appearance of the new projiagatinn, 

 to the white one presented to examination, that it is not possible 

 to mistake them, or to take one for the other: the lines, indeed, 

 are always white, but the flojuers and leaves, 1 find, require 

 more than a fortnight to become so : and suclr is the glutinous 

 power with which they stick to the glass, that nothing but soap 

 R.nd sand can eradicate them ; nay, even a knife is sometimes 

 required to scrape the wreaths off, as they absolutely almost 

 indent the talc: yet so high do they lie aliove the surface, from 

 the quantity of leaves and flowers in the i)ouquets, that they are 

 easily injured. But great care should be taken that a confusion 

 is not made between the white lines of the increasing vegetation 

 and those that are formed by cracking the talc, for I have now 

 discovered that they are very much alike : however, it is the 

 lines only. It is better therefore to take it on glass. My 

 glasses are absolutely cote? ec? unth be.uii I ijul patterns, and the 

 specimens will not only increase from the ends, but some will 



augment 



