132 



Mr. KiRWAN, " is as fatal to them as ab^ 

 " solute privation.'* 



And Mr. Otto, in the Philosophical 

 Magazine, vol. 18, informs us, that 

 " water, as a medium of solution, keeps 

 ** the nourishment of plants in a fluid state> 

 ** and promotes its circulation ; it is de- 

 ^^ composed in them into its principles 

 ** hydrogen and oxygen, and must there- 

 " fore serve also as nourishment; for the 

 *' oxygen is expired, and the hydrogen 

 ** unites itself with the solid parts. But 

 ** however necessary water may be to 

 " vegetation, a superabundance of it has a 

 •* prejudicial influence on plants, as it 

 " softens their fibres, so that the oxygen 

 " can easily produce a destructive putre- 

 *' faction, because they have no longer 

 •* sufficient elasticity to expire it. Hence 

 ^* the destruction of the crop by water in 



" level 



