SEAT OF VEGETABLE LIFE. 139 



the geometrician or mathematician ; and to suppose 

 that a like property is possessed by any member of a 

 plant is equally mysterious. Yet something of the 

 kind must be admitted before we can rationally 

 account for the interminable reproduction of peren- 

 nial plants, or of the endless division of parts of 

 plants. 



The foregoing idea of the existence of a distinct 

 vital member, whence all new accretions proceed, is 

 directly opposed to the modern doctrine of the 

 " organisable property " of the elaborated sap of 

 plants. The idea is founded upon the general law 

 of vegetable nature ; for where do we find the most 

 insignificant vegetable body come into visible exist- 

 ence without having a pre-existing embryo or rudi- 

 mental atom, whence it derives its essential structure 

 and qualities. There is no such instance in nature. 

 Can the most minute species of Fungi spring forth 

 without its propago, or the smallest herb without a 

 seed, or previously existing part of itself? Is the 

 bark or wood self-productive ? No : when either is 

 destroyed it cannot be renewed but by the assistance 

 of that vital member which is the origin of both. 



Admitting, then, that plants and certain parts of 

 plants possess the property of perpetual reproduction 

 and extension, a question follows : How is this sub- 

 division effected ? In the case of bulbs it has already 

 been stated, that the radicle plate is composed of an 

 endless train of gems, which are developed in the 

 order of their seniority ; tubers are multiplied by 



