234 INDEX. 



I. THE ROOT. 



PAGE 



Origin of the word Root 23 



The offices of the root are threefold: namely, Tenure, Nourish- 

 ment, and Animation 23-28 



The essential parts of a Root are two : the Limbs and Fibres 27 



I. THE LIMB is the gathered mass of fibres, or at least of fibrous 



substance, which extends itself in search of nourishment ... 26 



II. THE FIBRE is the organ by which the nourishment is re- 



ceived 27 



The inessential or accidental parts of roots, which are attached to 

 the roots of some plants, but not to those of others, (and are, 

 indeed, for the most part absent,) are three: namely, Store- 

 Houses, Refuges, and Ruins 27 



III. STORE -HOUSES contain the food of the future plant 27 



IV. REFUGES shelter the future plant itself for a time 28 



V. RUINS form a basis for the growth of the future plant in its 



proper order 29 



Root-Stocks, the accumulation of such ruins in a vital order 30 



General questions relating to the office and chemical power of roots 31 



The nomenclature of Roots will not be extended, in Pro- 

 serpina, beyond the five simple terms here given: though 

 the ordinary botanical ones corm, bulb, tuber, etc. will 

 be severally explained in connection with the plants which 

 they specially characterize. 



II. THE STEM. 

 Derivation of word 96 



The channel of communication between leaf and root 107 



In a perfect plant it consists of three parts : 



I. THE STEM (STEMMA) proper. A growing or advancing shoot 

 which sustains all the other organs of the plant 96 



It may grow by adding thickness to its sides without advancing ; 



but its essential characteristic is the vital power of Advance. 96 



