VEGETABLE LIFE. 15 



and if each be capable of amplification, no surprise 

 need be felt, considering- their immense numbers, at 

 the vast productions which rise from the propago of 

 a Lycoperdon*, or from a seed or sucker of an Agave 

 Americana, f 



In stems and petioles of the leaves of the larger 

 kinds of herbs, as Musa, Crinum, and the like, the 

 cells are ample, and therefore easily distinguishable 

 by the naked eye ; and the elongated cells between 

 the joints of hollow stems, are striking instances of 

 the expansive power of their contents, and the dis- 

 tensible nature of their cellular sheaths. Thus the 

 inflation (if we may use the term) of the cells gives 

 magnitude, and their disposition or arrangement 

 with respect to each other, constitutes the essential 

 character of the plant. 



There are many instances of ebuDition or effer- 

 vescence observable in the chemical action of different 

 bodies when mixed together, either by heat generated 

 or applied ; but such are only the effects of the 

 t-ommon laws of attraction, repulsion &c., and are 

 never attributed to anything like vitality ; and, had 

 vegetable growth no other properties than that of 

 amplification, a very close resemblance might be 

 drawn between it and the transformations, often 

 visible in unorganised and inanimate matter. 



But vegetable life has other most important and 

 distinct properties. It is continuous, without having, 

 in many cases, any assignable limit. Like that of 



* Puff ball, t American Aloe, 



