■12 PHYSIOLOGICAL VIEWS. 



.iished with this gas by the decomposition of water* and other sul)- 

 stances which are absorbed by the root. 



The Cambium is the sap elaborated by the chemical process ear- 

 ned on in the leaves, and rendered fit for the nourishment of the 

 plant. 



In tracing the descent of the cambium or returning sap, we shall 

 not find it passing through the same vessels by which it ascended ; 

 it is chiefly conveyed by a system of vessels between the hber or in- 

 ner layer of the bark, and the alburnum or young wood ; here il 

 contributes both to the formation of an outward layer of new wood 

 and an inward layer of new bark ; extending also from the extrem- 

 ity of the roots, to the upper extremity of the plant, it furnishes 

 materials for the formation of new buds and radicles. 



If a ring is cut through the bark of a tree, the cambium will be 

 arrested in its course, and accumulating around the upper edge of 

 the bark, will cause a ridge or an annular protuberance. This vege- 

 table blood being thus prevented from having access to the lower 

 part of the plant, the roots cease to grow, the sap ascends but feebly, 

 and in two or three years the tree dies. If the incision is not made 

 too deep, the wound will soon heal by the union of the disconnected 

 bark, and the circulation of the cambium proceeds as before. This 

 experiment proves the importance of this fluid to the existence of 

 the plant. 



The Proper Juices of Vegetables. This division comprehends 

 all the fluids furnished by the plant except the sap, and cambium ; 

 as oils, gums, &c. These are the product of the cambium, as, in 

 the animal system, tears are secreted from blood. The secretions, 

 carried on by the vegetable glands from the cambium, are of two 

 kinds; 1st, such as are destined to remain in the plant, as milk, re- 

 sins, gums, essential and fixed oils ; 2d, such as are destined to be 

 conveyed out of the plant ; these consist chiefly of vapours and 

 gases exhaled from flowers, and may, perhaps, more properly be 

 called excretions than secretions. 



LECTURE XIX. 



PHYSIOLOGICAL VIEWS — BARIC, WOOD, AND PITH — GROWTH OF A DICOTYLEDO- 

 NOUS PLANT — GROWTH OF A MONOCOTYLEDONOUS PLANT. 



We have exhibited to your view the minute discoveries made by 

 the help of the microscope in the solid parts of the vegetable sub- 

 stances ; we have also noticed those important fluids, the circula- 

 tion of which appears to constitute the life, and produce the growth 

 of plants. We have now to consider the solid parts already de- 

 scribed, as composing the body of the vegetable, and collected 

 under the three forms of Bark^ Wood, and Pith. 



Bark. The bark consists of the epidermis, cellular integument, and 

 corte.v. 



1st. Epidermis^; is the skin of the membrane which extends over 



* Water consists of oxygen in union with hydrogen. 



+ The word eperdimis is from epi, upon, and derma, the skin. 



Cambium, or descending sap— How conveyed— Importance of this fluid— What is 

 the effect of cutting a ring through the bark of a tree ?— What are the proper juices of 

 vegetables 7— Of what three parts is the body of the vegetable composed 7— Divisions! 

 of the bark— Describe the epidermis. 



