34 THE HEDGE-BANK. 



object to the sight as when relieved by other tints, 

 they will retain their freshness for a short time 

 only if they have been gathered one by one. In- 

 stead of this, then, break off bunches of leaves and 

 flowers together a little way below the crown of 

 the root, and your flowers will, when they are 

 placed in water, look quite as pretty as they did 

 when growing ; they will remain fresh for a very 

 long time, and the unopened buds will expand 

 nearly as well as if they were suffered to remain 

 where nature had placed them. This difference is 

 caused by the absence or presence of leaves ; for 

 leaves are not, as many people suppose, merely 

 ornamental to plants, but are absolutely necessary 

 to their perfect developement. All animals, you are 

 well aware, must have free access to air, or life will 

 soon become extinct. The atmosphere which we 

 breathe is composed of several gases, one of which 

 (called oxygen) being received through the mouth 

 by inspiration into the lungs, causes an alteration 

 in the appearance and character of the blood, and 

 no animal can remain in a healthy condition unless 

 this process be constantly and regularly carried 

 on. Plants have not, like animals, distinct organs, 

 such as hearts and lungs, but yet a kind of circu- 

 lation is carried on in their stems and leaves, the 

 latter performing nearly the same office for them 

 that lungs do for animals. The roots draw up 

 nourishment from the earth, which is carried 

 through the stem to the leaves. The surface of 

 the leaf is composed of a very thin transparent 

 skin, (called the cuticle,) perforated with innume- 

 rable exceedingly minute pores. Through these 

 air is admitted to the substance of the leaf, upon 

 which carbonic acid gas acts very much in the same 



