48 LIEE IN NATURE. 



speaks, illustrating the general question by the 

 growth of a potato : " If we examine the condition 

 of the potato which was buried in the earth, we 

 shall find remaining of it (after it has given origin 

 to a young plant) nothing but the skin, which will 

 probably contain a portion of water. What has 

 become of the starch and other matter which origi- 

 nally filled this large sac ? If we examine the soil 

 which surrounded the potato, we do not find that 

 the starch has been absorbed by it ; and the 

 answer which will naturally be suggested, is that 

 it has been transformed into the material of the 

 new plant, and it was for this purpose originally 

 stored away. But this, though in part correct, is 

 not the whole truth ; for if we weigh a potato prior 

 to germination, and weigh the young plant after- 

 wards, we shall find that the organic matter contained 

 in the latter is but a fraction of that which was 

 originally contained in the former. We can account 

 in this way for the disappearance of a part of the 

 contents of the sac, which has evidently formed 

 the pabulum of the young plant ; but here we may 

 stop to ask another question, By what power was 



