£ HEDWIG ON THE ORGANS OF 



the atmosphere. From this, Bonnet adopted an 

 opinion which -has since prevailed, that water con- 

 stituted the chief nutriment of plants, and that 

 they received it by means of the leaves as well as 

 the roots. 



Without examining whether these great philoso- 

 phers have been sufficiently accurate in their expe- 

 riments, and the inferences drawn from them, I 

 shall only observe, _that, though all who have 

 written upon this subject have never omitted 

 mentioning these pores, yet from the description 

 they have given of them, I am inclined to doubt of 

 their having actually seen them. 



With a view to direct the attention of the phy- 

 siological botanist to the use which vegetable 

 ceconomy derives from these organs, I shall give a 

 more particular description of what has fallen 

 under my immediate observation. 



I pretend no claim, however, to the honor of 

 being the first who saw them ; for that is due to 

 Mr. Von Gleichen,* who, in searching for the 



* It appears from this, as well as from some other passages occurring in 

 tin's paper, that the candid author was a stranger to a pamphlet of 

 Sacssure, " Ob-iervatioris sur 1'ecorce des feuilles & des petale*, a 



