58 Mr. Gardner on the Origin of the 
culations of the most interesting nature in the mind of the 
philosopher, and enable him by induction to give a definite 
and harmonious idea of the former condition of the globe. It 
was only from the intimate knowledge which the immortal 
Cuvier possessed of the anatomical structure of the livi 
animals which now people the earth, that he derived the 
power of giving all but life to a host of its former inhabitants, 
whose existence and real characters were before totally un- 
known. If such knowledge is requisite for throwing light on 
the remains of animals, it must be obvious that the relies 
which survive of the extinct vegetation of the earth can only 
be successfully investigated by those who have attentively 
studied the anatomical structure of that which now covers its 
surface. To the geologist, knowledge of this kind must be of 
the utmost value, since we now know that many tribes of 
plants are as readily distinguished by the structure of their 
stems, as by the characters which are given to them by their 
organs of fructification. Thus all the individuals of the na- 
tural order Conifere are immediately recognized by there 
being scarcely any mixture of vascular tissue among the woody 
fibre of their stems, as well as by their ligneous tissue being 
marked with circular discs, which are supposed by Kieser and 
several other vegetable Bhyesienes to be pores, but which, 
from apparently good reasons, Dr. Lindley considers to be 
semitransparent granules. Cycadee are recognized by the 
same want of vascular tissue as in Conifere, and by their 
wood being marked in the same manner; but the zones of 
wood are separated by a layer of cellular substance resem- 
bling that of the pith, and often as thick as the zones them- 
selves. The shrubs which constitute the natural order Caly- 
canthee have square stems, with four woody imperfect axes, 
surrounding the usual central one; and the investigations of 
those who are now devoting themselves to such inquiries may 
probably lead to the discovery of distinguishing characters in 
the stems of other well-marked tribes of the vegetable king- 
dom. 
These remarks have been occasioned from reading the ac- 
count of the anatomical structure of endogenous plants given 
by Dr. Lindley in his ‘ Introduction to Botany.’ After stati 
the general plan on which the stems of these plants are formed, 
the following paragraph occurs at page 82 of the second edi- 
tion of that work: “The investigations of Mohl appear to 
show that this view of the structure of endogens requires some 
modification. According to this observer, every one of the 
woody bundles of a palm-stem originates in the leaves, and is 
at first directed towards the centre; arrived there, it follows 
