110 



for it has been proved, not only by com- 

 mon experience, but by Mr. Kirwan, 

 and other eminent chemists, that water is 

 not the sole food of plants ; that water 

 and earth, taken together, do not consti- 

 tute the whole food of plants ; but that 

 they receive into their composition water, 

 charcoal, oils, animal and vegetable sub- 

 stances, different earths, and salts; but 

 Mr. Kir WAN, in his valuable little book 

 on manures, speaks so directly and so 

 decisively on the point for which I have 

 been sometime contending, that I must 

 beg the liberty of laying before my readers^ 

 a copious extract or two. 



In page 25, Mr. Kir wan says, " The 

 " agency of water in the process of vege- 

 *' tation has never been doubted, though 

 :*• the manner in which it contributes to 

 ;" it has not, until of late, been distinctly 

 . /^ perceived. 



