384 NATURAL THEOLOGY. 



The GENERAL properties of vegetable nature, or 

 properties common to large portions of that king- 

 dom, are almost all which the compass of our ar- 

 gument allows us to bring forward. It is impossi- 

 ble to follow plants into their several species. We 

 may be allowed, however, to single out three or 

 four of these species as worthy of a particular no- 

 tice, either by some singular mechanism, or by 

 some peculiar provision, or by both. 



I. Jn Dr. Darwin's Botanic Garden, (1. 395, 

 note,) is the following account of the vallisneria, 

 as it has been observed in the river Rhone : — 

 " They have roots at the bottom of the Rhone. 

 The flowers of the female plant float on the sur- 

 face of the water, and are furnished with an clas- 

 tic spiral stoch, which extends or contracts as the 

 water rises or falls — this rise or fall, from the 

 torrents which flow into the river, often amount- 

 ing to many feet in a few hours. The flowers of 

 the male plant are produced under water ; and as 

 soon as the fecundating farina is mature, they se- 

 parate themselves from the plant, rise to the sur- 

 face, and are wafted by the air, or borne by the 

 currents, to the female flowers." Our attention 

 in this narrative will be directed to two particu- 

 lars : first, to the mechanism, the " elastic spiral 

 stalk," which lengthens or contracts itself accord- 

 ing as the water rises or falls ; secondly, to the 

 provision which is made for bringing the male 

 flower, which is produced under water, to the fe- 

 male flower, which floats upon the surface. 



