PECULIAR JUICES. 99 



fected by the external bodies with which it is in contact, 

 such as light, heat, the atmosphere, the soil, &,c. This 

 will enable you to acquire some information respecting 

 the culture of plants ; and though I do not aim at mak- 

 ing you adepts in agriculture, yet I consider the applica- 

 tion of botany to that science as the most useful and the 

 most interesting point of view in which it can be studied. 



Caroline. And it must be much more amusing than 

 the common mode, of studying the classification of plants. 



Mrs. B. Classification must always be respected in 

 science. It is impossible to acquire any clear ideas in 

 any branch of knowledge without its aid ; but it is true 

 that in botany it is sometimes held in too high estimation. 

 In the eagerness of pursuit, the student is apt to forget 

 that classification is but the means, not the end to be at- 

 tained. 



M. De Candolle's mode of classification is more simple 

 than that of any preceding botanist ; still you must ex- 

 pect it to afford you instruction rather than amusement. 

 But we shall not treat of it till we have examined the va- 

 rious organs of the flower on which it is founded. 



Caroline. And when are we to learn the history of 

 the flower, Mrs. B. ? that part of botany which I once 

 thought comprised the whole of the science ? 



Mrs. B. The flower is the asylum, in which the seed, 

 destined for the reproduction of the plant, is lodged and 

 cherished. We shall examine the flower and the seed, 

 therefore, in immediate succession, when we enter on 

 the subject of the reproductive powers of plants. 



CONVERSATION VII. 



ON THE ACTION OF LIGHT AND HEAT OF PLANTS. 



Mrs. B. In examining the effect of external bodies on 

 plants we shall begin with light, which may be consider- 

 ed as acting on them in four different ways. The first 

 rays of the rising sun seem to awaken the vegetable cre- 

 ation from its state of repose. 



Caroline. You do not mean to infer that plants sleep 

 during the night, Mrs. B. ? 



548. Of what advantage will this be! 549. What does Mrs. B. 

 gay of classification in botany 1 ? 550. What was Candolle's mode of 

 classification! 551. Of what is the flower an asylum! 552. 

 In how many ways does light act on plants! 553. What is the first 1 



