198 OF PLANTS. 



advantage strictly mechanical,) that all the blossoms turn 

 their backs to the wind, whenever the gale blows strong 

 enough to endanger the delicate parts upon which the seed 

 depends. I have observed this a hundred times in a field 

 of peas in blossom. It is an aptitude which results from 

 the figure of the flower, and, as we have said, is strictly 

 mechanical; as much so, as the turning of a weather-board 

 or tin cap upon the top of a chimney. Of the poppy, and 

 of many similar species of flowers, the head, while it is 

 growing, hangs down, a rigid curvature in the upper part 

 of the stem giving to it that position ; and in that position 

 it is impenetrable by rain or moisture. When the head 

 has acquired its size, and is ready to open, the stalk erects 

 itself, for the purpose, as it should seem, of presenting the 

 flower, and, with the flower, the instruments of fructifica- 

 tion, to the genial influence of the sun's rays. This al- 

 ways struck me as a curious property ; and specifically, 

 as well as originally, provided for in the constitution 

 of the plant ; for if the stem be only bent by the weight 

 of the head, how comes it to straighten itself when the 

 head is the heaviest ? These instances, show the at- 

 tention of nature to this principal object, the safety and 

 maturation of the parts upon which the seed depends. 



In trees, especially in those which are natives of colder 

 climates, this point is taken up earlier. Many of these trees 

 (observe in particular the ash and the horse-chestnut) pro- 

 duce the embryos of the leaves and flowers in one year, 

 and bring them to perfection the following. There is a 

 winter therefore to be gotten over. Now what we are tore- 

 mark is, hbw nature has prepared for the trials and sever- 

 ities of that season. These tender embryos are, in the 

 first place, wrapped up with a compactness, which no art 

 can imitate : in which state, they compose what we call the 

 bud. This is not all. The bud itself is enclosed in scales ; 

 which scales are formed from the remains of past leaves, 

 and the rudiments of future ones. Neither is this the 

 whole. In the coldest climates a third preservative is add- 

 ed, by the bud having a cortiof gumor resin, which, being 

 congealed, resists the strongest frosts. On the approach 

 of warm weather this gum is softened, and ceases to be a 

 hinderance to the expansion of the leaves and flowers. All 

 this care is part of that system of provisions which has for 

 its object and consummation, the production and perfect- 

 ing of the seeds. 



