46 THE HEDGE-BANK. 



reach, but they would be engaged in a pursuit 

 which God has sanctioned, and they would daily 

 become acquainted with fresh evidences of His 

 wisdom and goodness. 



I am now better acquainted with both the na- 

 ture and properties of the plant of which I have 

 been speaking ; I know the uses of the several 

 parts which compose the column, what is to be 

 considered the flower, and what will by-and-by 

 become the seed. The column itself, I am told, 

 has, when growing, the peculiar property of 

 evolving heat in quantities so considerable as sen- 

 sibly to affect a thermometer held near it ; and I 

 can conjecture what end in the economy of the 

 plant this property may answer. I know from 

 experience that the fresh juice of the whole plant 

 is so acrid that it will blister the tongue of any 

 one who tastes it ; and I can appreciate the rea- 

 sons which chemists assign for an alteration pro- 

 duced by the agency of heat, which takes away its 

 burning properties, and converts the mealy sub- 

 stance to be found in its roots into food as nutri- 

 tious as arrow-root : I know the soil which is best 

 adapted for its growth, where to look for the 

 embryo flower, which is yet enclosed within the 

 leaf-stalk, and before it has risen above the 

 ground; I can assign a reason for the roots re- 

 maining asleep and inactive during several months 

 each year, and I can name the seasons when 

 they contain more nutritive matter than at any 

 other. 



This knowledge (for knowledge it is, little 

 though it be,) I have attained by fostering the 

 desire, implanted in me by the God of nature, of 

 searching into the things of nature. It is very 



