OF DEPOSITS OF NOURISHMENT. 279 



Wheat is an example. It appears to me that an analo- 

 gous phenomenon evidently takes place when the lymph 

 traverses a feculent or oily deposit. 



If we now apply this general idea to all the cases 

 where certain organs are nourished without the possi- 

 bility of their being so by the descending sap, we shall 

 see that they owe it to deposits prepared before hand in 

 the course of the ascending sap. 



Thus, in all perennial plants, mucilaginous or fecu- 

 lent matters are deposited, towards the end of summer, 

 in the upper parts of their roots : when the new stems 

 shoot up in spring, they are nourished by the ascending 

 sap, which, in passing through these nutritious deposits, 

 dilute them, and, becoming charged with them, carry 

 them to the parts destined to be developed until the 

 production of leaves allows them to prepare their own 

 nourishment. Tuberous roots present, in this respect, 

 special organs for the deposit of these matters, and we 

 see that they are destroyed after the development of the 

 young shoots: this is also applicable to subterranean 

 stems and tubercules, as well as to the nodes of ordinary 

 stems from which we see the young branches produced. 



In dicotyledonous trees the pith is a true deposit of 

 nourishment as regards the young shoot, and we see it 

 dry up and perish after it has fulfilled this office. 



The receptacles of several flowers serve the same pur- 

 pose ; before flowering, they are found loaded with 

 mucilaginous and feculent juices, which are carried up 

 by the ascending sap during flowering, and serve to 

 nourish the flowers and fruits ; after this period, they 

 become empty and dry up, as may be seen in the Arti- 

 choke, &c. 



What we have clearly seen in those receptacles, 

 which are very large, and nourish a great number of 

 flowers, takes place in all peduncles, but in a more or 



