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THE FLUIDS OF PLANTS. 



THE animal fluids consist principally of what is 

 digested in the stomach, and formed first into a pulp 

 called chyme, and then into another termed chyle ; and 

 secondarily of this chyle converted into blood, which in 

 its course gives off bile, urine, and other fluids. The 

 fluids of plants however are not so distinctly marked, 

 and it is greatly owing to this that so much uncertainty 

 and confusion prevail among even the best authors. 



To the first fluid which is met with in plants, and 

 introduced in whole or in part immediately from the 

 soil, I give the exclusive name of sap x . It is usually 

 a clear thin fluid of a pleasant taste, composed chiefly 

 of water, carbonic acid gas, and nitrogen or azote a . 

 To the second fluid, analogous to blood, often con- 

 founded in books with the sap, and composed of the 

 sap deprived of much of its water and of the oxygen 

 of the carbonic acid gas, I give the exclusive name of 

 pulp 3 . 



There are other peculiar fluids, such as oils and 

 acids, found in plants, whose formation and use are 

 little understood. 



Having thus briefly gone over what may be called 

 the simpler elements of all plants, I shall next take 



(1) In Latin, Succtts. 



(2) See ALPHABET OF SCIENTIFIC CHEMISTRY, 

 (3) In Latin, Cambium. 



