178 SEASIDE DIVINITY. 



which collect their stores of moisture almost 

 wholly from the atmosphere. The power of thus 

 absorbing moisture is singularly adapted to the 

 locality in which the sea-shore plants flourish, 

 for, although the soil or sand in which they are 

 fixed is dry and hot, the air is loaded with moisture, 

 the process of evaporation from the surface of the 

 sea being carried on with the greatest rapidity 

 during the heat. 



But the power of absorbing fluid from the air 

 is not the only peculiarity of the succulent plants 

 of the sea-shore. They are in a remarkable 

 degree exposed to the influence of heat and 

 drought, and they must perish unless some pro- 

 vision exists in their structure to check the 

 exhalation which otherwise would take place 

 with great rapidity from the leaves. The cuticle, 

 therefore, is much firmer in its texture, and much 

 thicker, than in plants occupying situations in 

 which the root can obtain an abundant supply of 

 moisture. Moreover, in succulent plants the 

 stomata are comparatively so few in number that 

 sometimes they appear to be wholly absent ; and 

 as it is by these stomata that air enters the leaves 

 and carries off. as if by evaporation, their fluid con- 

 tents, the deficiency of those orifices along with the 

 thickness of the cuticle itself, render these plants 

 capable of retaining their moisture, producing 

 their blossoms, and completing their fructification, 

 under circumstances which even in a few hours 

 would be fatal to other races of vegetables. 



This is but one out of the innumerable instances 



