Mr. Maui's Rejoinder. 283 



Art. IV. Rejoinder to the Ansiver of the Author of the " Domestic 

 Gardener's Mamial" on Questions proposed to that Gentleman in 

 Vol. VIII. p. 652. By Mr. J. Main. 



Sir, 



I FEEL very much obliged by your condescension in answer- 

 ing [p. 186.] so fully and so candidly the queries I took the 

 liberty of proposing to you in a former Number of this Maga- 

 zine. Having given your answer an attentive perusal, I must 

 beg leave to say, that, from the whole of your arguments, it is 

 to me sufficiently obvious that you have not perceived exactly 

 the drift of my questions ; your reply relates only to the 

 augmentation of the elements of 'plants^ while my questions 

 referred to \\\q, formation of the organisation. This being the 

 case, it is necessary to restate my questions somewhat more 

 fully, and to add some brief comment, which, while it will 

 place the former in a proper light, will also show to what 

 they tended. 



My first question is simply this. Can the organic structure 

 of plants he formed hy or out of their juices ? I call all juices 

 of a plant the sap, whether in its crudest state, as pure 

 water, or after its assimilation into the consistence of resin, 

 gum, oil, milk, pulp, or jelly. In one or other of these con- 

 ditions it is found in all plants, and either concreted or fluid, 

 occupying the cellular, vascular, or tubular oi'gans, or exuded 

 therefrom, and appearing on the buds, in the flowers and 

 fruit, or on other parts of the exterior. The sap is therefore 

 an important constituent of the system, and quite distinct, in 

 my opinion, from the organic frame which elaborates and 

 contains it. I ask, then, is the latter formed by any possible 

 aggregation of the former ? in other words, are the pellicles 

 of the cells, the sides of the vessels, or tubes of the structure, 

 or the fibi'ous tissues of the various membranes, generated by 

 associations of the rarer or grosser particles, or globules, of 

 the sap ? In your various respectable writings, and in your 

 answer before me, you seem convinced affirmatively. This 

 is your position; which (though supported by many great 

 names) I deem untenable, and which, indeed, called forth 

 the queries I presumed to propose to you. 



As proof of your opinion as to the organisable properties of 

 the sap, you refer me to one of our first physiological 

 authorities, and to an ingenious experiment made by that 

 acute observer of nature. But as neither the high respect- 

 ability of the experimentalist nor the result of the experiment 

 itself can bear upon or alter the simple question proposed by 

 me, I must decline giving any opinion thereon, more espe- 



