fj4 LECTURE 11. 



parts being apparently the consequence of 

 vital actions in the latter. There is one 

 experiment of Mr. Hunter's I may men- 

 tion, because it displays the reflective cha- 

 racter of his mind, and the persevering 

 industry with which he prosecuted every 

 subject that excited his attention. Hav- 

 ino; set beans in a tub filled with earth, 

 which had perforated apertures in various 

 directions, he contrived mechanism to keep 

 it constantly revolving round an axis, to 

 show that the ordinary operation of gra- 

 vitation had no effect in producing the ex- 

 tremely varied course which the young 

 plants took in order to arrive at the surface. 



Specimens of some plants, parts of which 

 undergo sudden motions, stand first among 

 the preparations in the Museum. Re- 

 specting this subject Mr. Hunter observes 

 in his MS. in 1776, " All plants are not 

 endowed with evident motions, yet in some, 

 such motions occur in parts of them, and 

 apparently from the application of particular 

 stimuli, as the rising and setting of the sun, 

 &c. Some also are affected by touch, so as 



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