VOL. XLV.] PHILOSOl'HICAL TRANSACTIONS. 6l3 



But these instances from common infusions, of a vegetative force residing in 

 every microscopical point of animal or vegetable matter, how strong soever and 

 surprising, were neither so wonderful nor extraordinary as some- others he ob- 

 served after M. de BufFon's departure. From the wheaten filamentous zoophytes 

 it was easy to infer, that they sprung from, and were productions of, the mass 

 of matter that had subsided to the bottom of the phial. Yet this he could not 

 obtain a sight of; nor was it possible in this way to obsene them without sepa- 

 rating them from their roots and from the mass, out of which they arose. The 

 method the most natural therefore which occurred to him for viewing these zoo- 

 phytes, without disturbing their vegetation, and for observing their whole pro- 

 cess, from the origin of the plants to their last degree of maturity, was to take 

 extreme thin slices of cork, and insert, through little holes which he made, 4 

 or 5 in each slice, grains of wheat or barley, or any other farinaceous seed, for 

 these all nearly agree in the phenomena they exhibit, with the germ either 

 turned upwards, or carefully picked out with the point of a penknife, to prevent 

 their usual shooting. 



These were permitted to swim on the surface of fresh spring-water, in a glass 

 exposed to the sun, that the whole vegetating force might be determined down- 

 wards towards the inferior moiety of each grain, which alone could in these cir- 

 cumstances imbibe and be saturated with moisture. This answered his purpose 

 entirely ; his plants grew downwards into the water like corals, but appeared not 

 till several days after the grains had been thus exposed ; and were at last so large 

 and strong, that he could see them with his naked eye. 



When they became thus visible, he cut off with a small pair of scissars the 

 vegetating extremity, and placed it in a concave object-glass with water. The 

 plants then took a new direction, followed the expanse of the fluid, and conti- 

 nued to vegetate, while he supplied them with water, which he did from time to 

 time, covering them after observation with another concave object-glass, to pre- 

 vent the fluid from evaporating too fast. Thus he had for the subject of his 

 observations what he might call a microscopical island, v/hose plants and animals 

 soon become so familiar to him, that he knew every animal species, and every 

 individual plant almost without any danger of mistake ; an exactness so necessary, 

 that it would not otherwise have been possible to follow the process of this vege- « 

 tation without confusion. From this time he laid aside the use of large infu- 

 sions, and provided a certain number of watch-crystals, or concave object-glasses, 

 for every portion of animal or vegetable substance he was to macerate in water. 

 The use of these is plain and easy ; many fruitful little islands of various kinds 

 with labels and dates affixed to each may thus be obtained, by placing the vege- 

 tating substances in these glasses ; and this is the method he would recommend 

 to all those who may be desirous to repeat or pursue his experiments. 



