15!^ LETTER XI. 



ther ; up the wood, along the veins of the leaves to 

 their extremest points, back again into the stem, and 

 down the bark towards the roots. When plants have 

 no woody fibre, they are universally so delicate and 

 weak as to be unable either to raise themselves in the 

 air, or to withstand any violence, as we see in mosses, 

 lichens, mushrooms, and such plants. 



You will probably be surprised when I tell you 

 that the Fig Tree is so nearly the same in structure 

 as the Nettle, that many Botanists consider it to 

 belong to the same tribe ; and you may possibly be 

 tempted to exclaim with some who have not considered 

 the subject very attentively, "How absurd to place 

 the Nettle and the Fify together in the same natural 

 group !" / must admit that this does appear strange 

 until the reason is pointed out ; and I trust you will 

 admit that itis clearly right when the reason shall 

 have been explained to you. 



Let us then see what a Fig Tree is. It is an Exo- 

 genous plant with leaves covered with very stiff short 

 hairs, and with a pair of stipules at their base ; so is a 

 Nettle. It has flowers with stamens and pistils sepa- 

 rate : so has a Nettle ; its flowers have no corolla, and 

 the pistil is a little simple body, which changes, when 

 ripe, to a very small flat grain ; all which is exactly 

 what we find in the Nettle. In the essential parts of 

 their structure the two plants then are alike. But 

 where are the flowers of the Fig, you will inquire ; 

 vou can see nothing but a thick oval green body, 

 which you know will turn to fruit, and which there- 

 fore ought to be the flower ; here, however, you must 



