¢ 455) 
. When the weather is at or below the freezing 
point, the sap of plants remains suspended and har- 
dened in the albumum ;(1) but on the application 
of heat, whether naturally or artificially excited, 
this sap is rendered fluid, is put into motion and the 
buds begin to swell, Under the same impulse, 
through the medium of the earth, the roots open 
their “pores, receive nuiritive juices, and carry 
them to the heart of the plant. The leaves being 
now developed, begin and continue the exercise of 
their functions, till winter again, in the economy of 
nature, ‘suspends the operations of the machine. 
Nor is its action ‘confined to ‘the circulation of ve- 
getable juices; without vapor (its legitimate off- 
spring) the fountain and the shower would be ‘un- 
known—nor would the great processes of animal 
and vegetable fermentation and decomposition go 
on; Without rain or other means of ameliorating 
the soil, what would be the aspect of the globe? 
what the state of vegetation? what the situation of 
man! : Ria 
The diffusion of electrical matter, found inthe air 
‘and in all other substances, furnishes a presump- 
tion, that it is an efficient agent in vegetation. Nol- 
Jet and others have thought that, artificially em- 
ployed, it favored the germination of seeds and the 
growth of plants; and Mr. Davy “ found, that corn 
sprouted more rapidly in water, positively electrifi- 
ed by the voltaic battery, than in water negatively 
electrified.” (2) These opinions have not escaped 
(1) Knight’s Observations, &c, 
(2) Davy’s Elements. 
