LECT. IV.] THE ROOT. BULBS. 187 



the odorous, acrid, secreted juice which character- 

 izes it, is found in greatest quantity in the fleshy 

 internal layers of the young bulbs * ; and conse- 

 quently these are the parts employed both medi- 

 cinally and as a condiment ; whilst, in the mem- 

 branous layers of the old bulb, it is scarcely per- 

 ceptible either to smell or to taste. 



Such are the characteristic distinctions of those 

 appendages of roots, which are denominated 

 bulbs. They have been properly regarded by Dr. 

 Darwin -f and others as subterraneous buds ; and 

 as having a close affinity with the buds on the 

 stem and branches of perennial plants : for, like 

 these, they continue rather than reproduce the 

 individual, and are liable to all the hereditary im- 

 perfections and diseases of the parent. In some 

 other particulars also this resemblance holds good; 

 for, as in all plants which are furnished with buds, 

 those produced in the first years of the plant are 

 leaf buds only, and a succession of these occur be- 

 fore flower buds are formed, so no flower bulb is 

 ever produced from seed ; the first formed being 

 always a leaf bulb, which, in many instances (as 

 the Tulip for example), produces another leaf bulb, 

 and so on for several successive generations, until 

 at length a flower bulb is formed ; after which, one 



* In common language these young bulbs are termed cloves. 



f Phytologia passim. 



