76 OF THE COTYLEDONS. 



Island Pine, the cotyledons are very distinctly four : 

 see Jig. 3. 



The preservation of the vital principle in seeds is 

 one of those wonders of Nature which pass unregarded, 

 from being every day under our notice. Some lose 

 their vegetative power by being kept out of the ground 

 ever so little a while after they are ripe, -and in order 

 to succeed must sow themselves, in their own wav. 

 and at their own time. Others may be sent round the 

 world through every vicissitude of climate, or buried 

 for ages deep in the ground, till favourable circum- 

 stances cause them to vegetate. Great degrees of 

 heat, short of boiling, do not impair the vegetative 

 power of seeds, nor do we know any degree of cold 

 that has such an effect. Those who convey seeds from 

 distant countries, should be instructed to keep them 

 dry; for, if they receive any damp sufficient to cause 

 an attempt at vegetation, they necessarily die, because 

 the process cannot, as they aje situated, go on. If, 

 therefore, they are not exposed to so great an artificial 

 heat as might change the nature of their oily juices, 

 they can scarcely, according to the experience of Mr. 

 Salisbury, be kept in too warm a place. By the pre- 

 servation of many seeds so long under ground, it seems 

 that long-continued moisture is not in itself fatal to 

 their living powers; neither does it cause their prema- 

 ture germination, unless accompanied by some action 

 of the air. 



It is usual with gardeners to keep Melon and Cu- 



