DISTRIBUTION OF SEEDS. 



has been made to grow on the Love- Apple ( Tomato,) and the 

 Melon, on the Gourd. 



The budding of fine varieties of fruit on inferior trees of the 

 same kind, and the more beautiful varieties of flowers on 

 stalks that are less so, is practised very extensively by horti- 

 culturists. Thus the fine varieties of the Dahlia grow on 

 the common sorts, by inserting their young buds or eyes into 

 the root. 



DISTRIBUTION OF SEEDS. 



The Great Author of nature has undoubtedly performed all 

 his works in a manner far more perfect than the mind of a 

 finite being can possibly comprehend. This may be inferred, 

 not only from the wisdom of the Maker, but also from the 

 universal truth, that the more intimately we become acquainted 

 with the minute parts, or hidden principles of nature, the 



freater cause do we find for our admiration and astonishment, 

 till, in no instance is it probable, that we are fully sensible 

 of the mechanical perfection of any organic structure, or that 

 we shall ever, in this world, become fully acquainted with 

 the laws by which the actions or functions of such structures 

 are governed. A plant, as well as an animal, is surely " a 

 collection of wonders." The roots, the stems, the branches, 

 the leaves, the flowers, and the seeds, are not only perfect in 

 themselves, but are perfectly adapted, by their varieties, to 

 the places where they grow, and the purposes they are in- 

 tended to answer in the scale of creation. If we examine 

 each of these parts with attention, and especially if this 

 is done by means of microscopic glasses, we shall be 

 astonished at the regularity arid beauty with which the minu- 

 test parts of each are constructed. In these cases, however, 

 our knowledge is " but in part," for although this precise 

 structure indicates design, yet there is nothing in the struc- 

 ture itself which explains to us the purpose it is intended to 

 answer. The indications of nature with respect to the con- 

 struction of many external parts of plants, are, on the contrary, 

 such as we can clearly understand, because their forms, or 

 actions, are such as to make their uses perfectly obvious. 

 This is the case with respect to the contrivances with which 



