102 CULTIVATION. 



The natural history of the anemone is briefly 

 this : — It rests in summer ; and, soon as the au- 

 tumnal rains set in, it comes into action, expands 

 its leaves and flowers (probably during our win- 

 ter), and ripens its seed in the spring: when 

 these decay, the vitality becomes stagnant, and 

 remains secure in the bosom of the tuber. 



Thus, while the generality of plants are 

 prompted into action by the return of spring, to 

 be perfected by the increased heat and light of 

 summer, the anemone is one of those that shuns 

 the warm season, remaining dormant till the 

 parching heats are past. Many plants are simi- 

 larly actuated. It has been already observed, that 

 some flowers cannot bear the hght, if combined 

 with a high degree of heat: but no conjecture 

 has been offered why this must needs be so. I 

 shall here, therefore, risk an opinion, and an 

 opinion only, on the subject : — 



" Nature does nothing in vain."' Every plant 

 is fitted for the circumstances of the climate of 

 which it is a native. Tropical trees are scarcely 

 affected by a change of seasons, though they are 



