16 CONCERNING SECT* It. 



called, as corn; which has therefore been deemed 

 by some, not strictly a seed, but a bud, or bulb. 



It has been doubted whether all plants have seed y 

 because some sorts have not been observed to produce 

 it'*' To conclude that they have, is however more 

 agreeable to the uniformity of the divine procedure, 

 and altogether to our reason. 



Seed may be conceived so- small as not to be dis- 

 cerned even with the help of convex glasses, as we 

 know there are many not discernible without them ; 

 and with this minuteness, it may be extremely fuga- 

 cious by its slight adhesion to the plant. 



The truth is, GOD originally ordained that plants 

 should proceed from seed, and they do, (Gen. i. 2.) 

 It was long said, that fern bare no seed; but this is 

 a demonstrable mistake. That Mushr&tttis produce 

 seed, we need not doubt. Many of the mosses are so 

 small in the state of plants, that the microscope only 

 can discover their flowers, -and even in some, the 

 plants themselves are but barely thus discernible/ A 

 great variety of seeds are waited about continually 

 in the air, and produce their kind, whenever they 

 light upon. a proper matrix. Whatever has been 

 objected there appears good ground for believing, 

 that there is no natural production, either in the ve- 

 getable or animal kingdom, but what comes from the 

 seed, or egg of some parent i equivocal generation 

 we reject. 



As to certain plants appearing where none were 

 before, we know that some seeds will keep many 

 years, when deep buried, and being afterwards 

 brought to the surface, have vegetated, as the wild 

 mustard, Sec. Besides the wind carrying some sorts 

 of seeds to a considerable distance, birds also drop 

 a great many, so that plantations of oaks, &c. have 

 sprung up by means of crows carrying the acorns, 

 and dropping them in cracked ground. 



