280 HARMONIES OF VEGETATION. 



an equal testimony of his benevolence, by a provision 

 for the thirst of man in dry and almost sterile lands. 



Among t>e scorching fands of Africa, he has placed a plant, whose 

 leaf, twisted into the form of a cruet, i always filled with a large 

 glassful of fresh water; the neck, of this cruet is stopped by the end 

 of the leaf itself, soth.-xt the water cannot evaporate. Theie are also 

 plantei on some parched districts of the same country, a great tree, 

 called by the negroes Boa, the trunk of which, of prodigions bulk, 

 is naturally hollowed out like a cistern. In the rainy season it is 

 replenished with water, which it keeps cool during the most intense 

 heat, by means of the foliage which crowns its summit. 



15. These are, among many, a selection of the most 

 beautiful illustrations of the wisdom of nature, in the 

 disposal of her vegetable treasures, as far as respects 

 their relation to the comforts of man in their simple 

 state 



There ar an infinite number of pleasing harmonies which might 

 be dednced from the application of vegetable productions to pur- 

 poses of domestic economy, from their use in the manufactories, 

 and indeed from their causual and general uses. 



HARMONIES OF PLANTS WITH ANIMALS. 



16. Plants, bear one or two properties in relation to 

 animals, in common to man. 



The one whereby they purify air once breathed, and make it again 

 capable of supporting animal life ; the other, in being the chief source 

 of their nourishment, or at least, the nourishment of most. 



17. With regard to the relation of plants to the food 

 of animals, we find there are certain species, calculated 

 in particular to certain species of animals. 



