378 



SEE 



SEE 



to be oil brought to its greatest 

 perfection, while it remains tumid, 

 and lodged in these repositories. 

 One part of the composition of this 

 balsam is oily and tenacious, and 

 serves to defend the embryo from 

 any extraneous moisture ; and, by 

 its viscidity, to entangle and retain 

 the fine, pure, volatile spirit, which 

 is the ultimate production of the 

 plant. This oil is never observed 

 to enter into the vessels of the em- 

 bryo, which are too fine to admit 

 so thick a fluid. The spirit, how- 

 ever, being quickened by an active 

 power, may possibly breathe a vital 

 principle into the juices that nour- 

 ish the embryo, and stamp upon it 

 the character that distinguishes the 

 family ; after which, every thing is 

 changed into the proper nature of 

 that particular plant. 



" Now when the seed is commit- 

 ted to the earth, the placenta still 

 adheres to the embr}'0 for some 

 time, and guards it from the access 

 of noxious colds, &;c. and even 

 prepares and purifies the cruder 

 juice which the young plant is to re- 

 ceive from the earth, by straining 

 it through its own body. This it 

 continues to do, till the embr}o 

 plant being a little enured to its. 

 new element, and its root tolerabiv 

 fixed in the ground, and fit to ab- 

 sorb the juice thereof, it then per- 

 ishes, and the plant may be said to 

 be delivered; so that nature ob- 

 serves the same method in plants. 

 as in animals in the mother's 

 womb. 



" Many sorts of seeds will con 

 tinue good for several years, antl 

 retain their vegetative fMCuh) : 

 whereas others will not grow after 



they are one year old : This differ- 

 ence is in a great measure owing 

 to their abounding more or less 

 with oil ; as also to the nature of 

 the oil, and the texture of their 

 outward covering. All seeds re- 

 quire some share of fresh air, to 

 keep the germen in a healthy state ; 

 and where the air is absolutely ex- 

 cluded, the vegetative quality of the 

 seeds will be soon lost. But seeds 

 will be longest of all preserved in 

 the earth, provided they are buried 

 so deep as to be beyond the influ- 

 ence of the sun and showers ; since 

 they have been found to lie thus 

 buried twenty or thirty years, and 

 yet vegetate as well as new seeds. 

 How the vegetative life is so long 

 preserved, by burying them so 

 deep, is very difficult to explain 5 

 but as the fact is very well known, 

 it accounts for the production of 

 plants out of earth taken from the 

 bottom of vaults, houses, &:c. 



" In the common method of sow- 

 ing seeds, there are many kinds 

 which require lo be sown soon 

 after they are ripe ; and there are 

 many others which lie in the ground 

 a year, sometimes two or three 

 years, before the plant comes up : 

 Hence, when seeds brought from 

 distant countries are sown, the 

 ground should not be disturbed, at 

 least for two years, for fear of de- 

 stroying the young plants. 



"■ As to the method of preserv- 

 ing seeds, the dry kinds are best 

 kept in their pods or outer cover- 

 ings ; but the seeds of all soft fruits, 

 as cucumbers, melons, &c. must be 

 cleansed from the pulp and muci- 

 lage which surround them ; other- 

 wise the rotting of these parts wili 

 corrupt the seeds. 



