Natural History to Gardeners. 601 



other tissues that belong to vegetables, and the means by which 

 plants perform their vital actions ; to be able to tell what they 

 feed upon, to know of their digestion and respiration, as well as 

 the circulation of the fluids that takes place within them; all these 

 things, and many more, are of importance for gardeners to know: 

 but to know these things, and remain ignorant of the structure of 

 his own body; to know nothing of the cellular, muscular, and 

 nervous tissues of which that body is composed ; in fact, to know 

 more about the Monas Termo than he does of himself, is doing 

 an injustice to himself and posterity. Such knowledge is of too 

 great importance to be left entirely in the hands of physicians 

 and surgeons. It is said by a writer on animal physiology, " that 

 the science of life is perfectly open to the student of nature, to 

 the cultivation of which he may approach without the appre- 

 hension of meeting with any extraordinary difficulties. The 

 obvious and peculiar advantages of this kind of knowledge are, 

 that it would enable its possessor to take a more rational care of 

 his health ; to perceive how certain circumstances are beneficial 

 or injurious; to understand in some degree the nature of disease, 

 and the operation as well of the agents that produce it, as of 

 those that counteract it; to observe the first beginning^ of de- 



... o o 



ranged functions in his own person; to give to his physician a 

 more intelligible account of his train of morbid sensations as 

 they arise ; and, above all, to cooperate with him in removing the 

 morbid state on which they depend, instead of defeating, as is now 

 through gross ignorance constantly done, the best-concerted 

 plans for the renovation of health." 



Passing from the solids and fluids of the human body, there 

 is something else that ought to occupy the attention of the 

 gardener who has the desire of improving himself, namely, the 

 histoi'y of the human mind. This is a subject which every ra- 

 tional creature ought to be made acquainted with. It is surely 

 of importance to know the extent and capacity of that mind 

 that is planted within man, when, by means of it, he may, 

 step by step, arrive at that justness and truth of understanding 

 which is the great perfection of a rational being ; yet how 

 many thousands are ignorant of its operations, and regard it as 

 a thing of no value, resigning the study of it, without any 

 cause, into the hands of the professors of logic ! 



It is a common complaint with some gardeners, that they have 

 not the means within their reach for improving their minds. 

 The complaint, in some cases, may be just; but I would ask 

 the question, Do they employ the means and opportunities that 

 are within their power to the best advantage ? Is it not a 

 common practice with many gardeners, and Scotchmen among 

 the rest, in the neighbourhood of large towns, to meet upon a 

 Sabbath, and, instead of seeking to hold converse with their 



