DEFINITIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS. 43 



pecially intended to perpetuate the species, but all alike are 

 endowed with it, whether intended for the support of man or 

 other animals ; whether cast on rocks, into the water, by the 

 way side, or into the fertile soil. While countless millions are 

 annually produced, only here and there one is permitted to 

 engage in the process of reproduction ; so provident has nature 

 been, so careful to ensure the perpetuity of the race. 



3. A proper view of the vital power may serve to im- 

 press the tiller of the soil above all other men, with the most 

 important moral lessons. Particular attention should be 

 given to it because it is unseen and secret in its operations, 

 and is not therefore properly considered. No credit, so to 

 speak, is given to it. And when the farmer casts in his 

 seed and gathers his golden harvests, he forgets the most 

 important agent, which has been working, with unceasing en- 

 ergy, to fill his stores with food. Nor does he consider, while 

 enjoying the rich rewards of his industry, the benevolent pro- 

 vision of his Maker in giving to every kernel of his grain the 

 power of producing future harvests, and supplying future wants. 



When he looks over the face of the earth and sees what an 

 infinite variety of form, color and property, characterizes the 

 plants which everywhere cover its surface, it may serve, at 

 least, to humble his pride, and confound his wisdom, when he 

 reflects that he cannot tell how a spear of grass grows, much 

 less impart a single tint to the gorgeous coloring with which 

 nature has adorned her covering. But he may see in every 

 stalk of grain the workings of a hidden and mysterious power, 

 the evidence of an all-pervading and beneficent Intelligence. 



Sect. 2. Defi,mtions. — Conditions necessary to develope the vi- 

 tal principle in the seed, bulb and bud. 



1. A seed is a living body, capable of producing a new indi- 

 vidual of the same species. "It is a reproductive fragment, or 

 vital point, containing within itself all the elements of life." The 

 seed consists of three parts, cotyledons, radicle and plumula. 



