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my uncle happened to see in the newspaper 

 the following extract from an address to the 

 Agricultural Society of St. Helena by General 

 Walker, who is the son of that ingenious doctor. 

 My uncle desired me to read it, and said that 

 these speculations are very useful to inquiring 

 minds ; they furnish hints, and they naturally 

 lead to new experiments, which elicit new 

 facts. 



" The functions of plants, as well as animals, 

 depend on the air in which they live. I have 

 observed that those of St. Helena which have 

 been brought from another hemisphere, are very 

 irregular in their annual progress; many of 

 them, in the developement of their foliage, have 

 adopted the law of nature peculiar to the country 

 into which they have been transplanted others, 

 more obstinate, remain faithful to their former 

 habits, and continue to follow the stated changes 

 to which they had been accustomed. They 

 all appear to maintain a struggle either before 

 they adopt the habits which belong to the sea- 

 sons of their new country, or decide on retaining 

 their relations with the old. In yielding to ex- 

 ternal circumstances, they appear to have 

 different tempers. 



" This is often observed in plants of the same 

 species appearing to hesitate before they adopt 

 the mode of performing their functions. And 

 when their decision is made, we are at a 

 loss to discover an adequate cause. For iur 



