264 BIOLOGY. 



the same as the root, namely, moisture from the air and 

 carbonic acid. Experiments prove it. 



c. CELL-PROCESS DIGESTION. 



1396. The cells are the crystallized drops of mucus, 

 the fundamental mass of the vegetable and consequently 

 the water, which converts itself into the Earthy, or where- 

 in the Solid has been elaborated and precipitated. They 

 construct the Solid that has been absorbed into new cells. 

 But the Solid can only assume other forms by means of 

 water. The solution, however, with mixture of bodies 

 and formation into globules is digestion. The cells are 

 thus the stomachs of which the plant has millions like 

 mouths. 



1397. The bodies absorbed must move in the cells ; 

 for chemical solution and mixture, being itself nothing 

 else than separation and union of atoms, is consequently 

 motion. In a single cell the motion must be upon all 

 sides, because the atoms are attracted and repelled from 

 all points of the cell-wall. In cells, however, which are 

 united with others and therefore subjected to longitudi- 

 nal polarity, this motion must be performed in accord- 

 ance with the axis of the cells. 



1398. This motion proceeds to and fro, because the 

 extremities of the cells have different polarities, and 

 therefore repel the same atoms, which they have before 

 attracted. In the cells the mucus appears to be con- 

 verted into starch-granules. 



B. Vascular Processes. 



a. Vessel-process Conveyance of Sap. 



1399. The vessels or intercellular passages conduct 

 the sap, or the water of the plant. Their function is 

 therefore the continued conveyance of the sap that has 

 been absorbed from the root, and rendered solid or con- 

 sistent by the evaporation going on in the bark and 

 elaborated by the cells. 



