CIIAI'TI'.I! III. 



^ 



WFIV PLANTS (JHOW, WHAT TIIKV AUK MADK FOR, AM) WFIAT THEY DO. 



261. Wo h.'ivo nf)\v liccomf !ir(|ii;iitit('(l witli ;ill tlif f)r*.'Hns of jtlants, hoth those 

 <'()nc('i'iif'(l ill tlicir life mikI ^M'()\vtli,()r rf'iji'/iihn/i,iuu\ tli()s«M'(inc«M"M<(l in mult iplyiti;^ 

 liieir numbers, tlifit is, in I'rprnihirf/ini. Tlic lirst Iwin^' the nmt, stem, and leaves ; 

 the se<'()n(l the (lowers (essentially the* stamens and |tistiis), with theii' I'esult, fniit 

 and seed. We have learned, also, how platits <,'row from the seed, produce pai t 

 after part, l»ran('h after branch, and leaf after leaf, and at len^'tli blossom and <.'oto 

 M'ed. \\'(! see that plants, with their or^rans, that is, iiixtriiiiit'iil.<^ are a kind of 

 living macliines at work ; and it is now time to ask, llinr flini njurnti'^ Wlml llnij 

 ftn'n(f to jHt.^-i, and What /x tlii' dhjcct or tlif ir^/iff of their doiiif^'s. Such ([uestions .• s 

 these, younf^pooj)le, with their curiosity awakene(l, woidd be likely to ask, and thev 

 ou^dit to b«! answered. To understand these thing's completely one must know 

 Koniethin",' of chemistry and ve«,'etable anatomy,* — which we do not pro[»i>sc hero 

 to teach. I>ut a f,'eneral account of the matter may be ^'i\en in a simple \\ay, 

 wliich shall be pei-fectly inteliij^'ilde, and may <,'ive a clear ich^a of the purpose which 

 phints were created to fultil in the world, and how thoy do it. Let us be;,'in by 

 considering 



262. The Plant in Action. Take any h'vin^,' plant, — it matters not what one,— 

 <'ind consider what it is doing. For greater .simplicity, take some young j)lant or 

 seedling, wliere vegetation goes on just as in a full-grown herl) or tree, only on a 

 smaller scale. The plant is 



263. Absorbing, or drawing in what it lives upon, from the soil and the air. This 

 is moisture, air, and other msitters which the rain, as it soaks into the ground, may 

 have dissolved on its way to the roots. It is by the roots, lodged in the damp soil, 

 that most of the moisture which plants feed u[K)n is taken in, and with this they 

 always jjet some earthv matter. This earthv matter makes the ashes which are 

 left after l)urning a piece of wood, a leaf, or any part of a jdatit. Moisture is 



* After studying this chapter, the jmpil will he rciidy to learn more of the suhject in tiis L>k-"'H.i 

 in liotanii itml Vt'octdhle Piii/siolot/i/. Lessons 22, 23, 24, and 25 treat of Vegetahle Anatomy, ami 

 Lesson 26 of the Tlaiit doing its work. 



