190 



a hither and thither. So that in truth 

 is full of an inconceivable number both of 

 and vegetables, perfectly formed in all their 

 and designed as it were in miniature, only 

 ig for certain favourable circumstances, to ena. 

 -them to make their appearance at large. HJW 

 rich then must that hand be, which hath sown them 

 with so much profusion ! 



It may not be improper before concluding this 

 head, to describe one more species of sea plants. 

 Coral grows chit-fly in grottoes, which open to the 

 south, and whose concave arch is nearly parallel to 

 the surface of the earth. It will not grow at all, 

 but where the sea is quiet as a pond. It vegetates 

 the contrary way to all ether plants ; its root ad- 

 hering to the top of the grotto 3 and its branches shoot- 

 ing downward. The root takes the exact form of 

 the solid it grows to, and covers it (as far as it goes) 

 like a plate, and this is a probable proof, that its 

 substance was origiually fluid. Accordingly corals 

 sometimes line the inside of a shell, which they could 

 not have entered but in a fluid form. All its organ* 

 ism with regard to vegetation, seems to consist in its 

 rind, in the little tubes whereof the juice runs to the 

 extremities of the branches. And this juice petrifying 

 both in the cells, that encompass the coraline sub- 

 stance, and in those at the extremity of the branches 

 whose substance is not yet formed, by this means 

 enlarges the plant to its full dimensions, both in 

 height and bulk. It is vulgarly believed, that coral 

 is soft while in the water. But experiment proves the 

 contrary. 



It is observable that all sea plants, (except the 

 Alga) are without roots. Nor have they any lon- 

 gitudinal capillary sap vessels, through which rooted 

 plants draw nourishment to every part. But the 

 whole substance of sea plants is composed of vesi- 

 cleSj which receive their nourishment immediately 



