Vegetable Organography and Physiology. ,, 59 



reous rock. From one side of the base of the tree the rock grad- 

 ually sloped off towards the earth, into the soil of which the roots 

 of the elm had imbedded themselves. On the opposite side, and 

 within a few feet of the tree, the rock was abruptly broken off 

 by a perpendicular descent of many feet. Over this edge of the 

 bare rock a large root of the elm had crept, and when first seen 

 by the writer, several years ago, was apparently seeking to hide 

 itself in the soil below ; but a distance of several feet still inter- 

 vened between the root and the earth. This singular and un- 

 natural position of the root attracted our attention at the time, and 

 being in the vicinity of the tree two or three years afterwards, 

 we visited it, and found that this wandering root had literally 

 retraced its steps. It had actually bent directly back upon itself, 

 and passing by the tree, had buried itself in the earth, along with 

 its fellows, on the side opposite from where it sprang. Here cer- 

 tainly a " want" existed, and although we cannot, in strict phi- 

 losophy, accord to vegetables the power of " volition," yet this 

 want was satisfied by an act, or quality, analogous to the act of 

 volition in animals.* 



In another instance, this quality, or vital principle, was mani- 

 fested in~a still more striking manner. About fifteen years ago, 

 upon the top of an immense bowlder of limestone, some ten or 

 twelve feet in diameter, a sapling elm was found growing. The 

 stone was but slightly imbedded in the earth ; several of its sides 

 were raised from four to six feet above its surface ; but the top of 

 the rock was rough with crevices, and its surface, which was 

 sloping off, on one side to the earth, was covered with a thin 

 mould. From this mould, the tree had sprung up, and having 

 thrust its roots into the crevices of the rock, it had succeeded in 

 reaching the height of some twelve or fifteen feet. But about 

 this period, the roots on one side became loosened from their 

 attachment, and the tree gradually declined to the opposite side, 



*" Plants," says Hugo Reid, in an attempt to draw a line between the animal 

 and vegetable kingdoms, " have no consciousness of existence, no experience of 

 any wants, no power of selecting food."' (Science of Botany, page 16.) Yet this 

 same author afterwards says : " Carbon, it is well known, is absolutely necessary 

 for the support, and growth of vegetables, and when this element is not to be 

 found in the soil, they can extract it from the atmosphere, and assimilate it to their 

 S7ibstance." The Science of Botany; by Hugo Reid, p. 53. 



