PASQUE-FLOWER. 181 



rising of the other, are doubtless occasioned 

 by the agents ah'eady mentioned, acting 

 equally on the root and leaf-bud, and caus- 

 ing an ascent and elongation : the one de- 

 signed to fix a plant or tree firmly in its 

 place of growth ; the other, with its flowers, 

 or leaves, or fruit, to minister to the delight, 

 or to the wants of man, yielding seed after 

 its kind, and embellishmg the surface of the 

 earth. The loss or preservation of that vi- 

 tal principle, concerning which I have just 

 spoken, is equally curious and worthy of 

 remark. The seeds of many garden flowers 

 and culinary plants lose their vegetative 

 power in the course of a short time. Others 

 may be exposed to all seasons, and great 

 vicissitudes of climate, and even continue 

 buried for ages beneath the soil, till an ex- 

 posure to the air and hght enables them to 

 bud forth. 



In northern latitudes, two tempestuous 



