872 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



attention of nature to this principal object, the 

 safety and maturation of the parts upon which the 

 seed depends. 



In trees^ especially in those which are natives 

 of colder climates, this point is taken up earlier. 

 Many of these trees (observe in particular the ash 

 and the horse-chestnut) produce the embryos of 

 the leaves and flowers in one year, and bring them 

 to perfection the following. There is a winter 

 therefore to be gotten over. Now what we are 

 to remark is, how nature has prepared for the 

 trials and severities of that season. These tender 

 embrj'os are, in the first place, wrapped up with 

 a compactness which no art can imitate ; in which 

 state they compose what we call the bud. This 

 is not all. The bud itself is inclosed in scales ; 

 w hich scales are formed from the remains of past 

 leaves, and the rudiments of future ones.'°^ Neither 

 is this the whole. In the coldest climates, a third 

 preservative is added, by the bud having a coat of 

 gum or resin, which, being congealed, resists the 



J05 1 his is not exr\ctly true. Buds are not inclosed in scales 

 formed from the remains of past leaves, except in a few rare in- 

 stances, to which it cannot be supposed that the author refers ; 

 neither are they protected by what can correctly be called the ru- 

 diments of future leaves, or are only protected in part. The ex- 

 tensive seales of a bud, those in which the office of protection 

 more especially resides, are rudimentary leaves, which are form- 

 ed at the end of the season, when ihe force of development in 

 the vet^etable system is weak and imperfect ; they do not be- 

 come leaves another season, but are simply thrown off by the ex- 

 pansion of the leaves which unfold from within them. 



