244 



HUTCHINSON'S POPULAR BOTANY 



us since we began! 

 Glance back for a 

 moment and consider a 

 few of them. Recall 

 a leading fact here and 

 there. Think of the 

 structure of a plant with 

 reference only to leaf, 

 root, and stem (for the 

 nower as yet we have 

 not reached) : think of 

 the millions of cells and 

 vessels which compose 

 it : of the provision for 

 the upward and down- 

 ward flow of sap ; of its 

 life-sustaining and life- 

 destro3*ing secretions ; of 

 the means by which its 

 growth is effected. What 

 lessons in patience and 

 prudence, in thrift and 

 economy, the plants 

 could teach us ! How 

 sentient and wise they 

 appear to be how 

 steady and methodical 

 how provident for the future plant ! Think of the endless variet}' of 

 external forms in root and stem : of the habits, metamorphoses, and 

 motions of those organs ; of their latent vegetative possibilities, their 

 vigorous growth, their longevity. Poets would even persuade us that 

 they have passions like ourselves envies and jealousies, loves and anti- 

 pathies ; and one almost wonders at times if the thought is only fanciful. 

 But we are treading on forbidden ground. 



FIG. 300. THE WIXFARTHING OAK, NEAR Diss. 



A tree of great age. whose trunk is over seventy feet in circumference at its base. 



