284 DECOMPOSITE ORGANS. GHAP. I. 



SECTION VI. 



The Caudex. 



Defini- THE term Caudex, in its present application^ to be 

 understood as including the whole mass or body both 

 of the trunk and root, as distinct from the temporary 

 parts of the plant, or parts already investigated ; 

 and as comprehending both the caudex ascendens, 

 and caudex descenders of Linnaeus, or the trunk 

 and its divisions, with the root and its divisions. 

 Varieties In opening up and dissecting the caudex, whether 

 ture, ascending or descending, the dissector will soon dis- 

 cover that its internal structure, like its external as- 

 pect or habit, is materially different in different 

 tribes of plants. This was long ago pointed out by 

 Grew in his Anatomy of Trunks, and well illus- 

 trated by plates. It was further illustrated by 

 Plumier in his treatise on the Ferns of America, as 

 well as also by Linnaeus ; and still more recently 

 by Messrs. Daubenton and Defontaines, who have 

 indeed investigated the subject with great ability; 

 the former in a Memoir presented to the Academy 

 of Sciences in 17QO; and the latter in the first 

 volume of the Memoirs of the National Institute, 

 but who, by generalizing their notions perhaps 

 somewhat too hastily, and without that full induc- 

 tion of particulars which the case requires, have been 

 led to exhibit rather a defective view of the modes of 

 vegetable organization ; and to apply such as they 



