THE VEGETATIVE ORGANS OP PLANTS. 255 



buds. In the funnel tube the roots made a perfect tissue 

 of fibers. In the dry earth of the funnel they were 

 less extensively developed, yet exhibited some juicy buds. 

 The stem and the young axillary leaf-buds were also full 

 of sap. The water-roots being cut away, the plant was 

 put into garden soil and placed in a conservatory, where 

 it grew vigorously, and in May bore two offshoots. 



The experiment would indicate that plants may extend 

 a portion of their roots into the subsoil chiefly for the pur- 

 pose of gathering supplies of water. {Senneberg' s Jour, 

 far Landwirthschaft, 1863, p. 280.) This growth towards 

 water must be accounted for on the prijiciples asserted in 

 the paragraph — Apparent Search for Food, (p. 241). 



The seeds of many ordinary land plants — of plants, in- 

 deed, that customarily grow in a dry soil, such as the bean, 

 squash, maize, etc., — will readily germinate in moist cot- 

 ton or saw-dust, and if, when fairly sprouted, the young 

 plants have their roots suspended in water, taking care 

 that the seed and stem are kept above the liquid, they will 

 continue to grow, and if duly supplied with nutriment 

 will run through all the customary stages of development, 

 IJroducing abundant foliage, flowering, and perfecting seeds, 

 without a moment's contact of their roots with any soil. 

 (See Water- Culture, \}. 167.) 



If plants thus growing with their roots in a liquid me- 

 dium, after they have formed several large leaves, be care- 

 fully transplanted to the soil, they wilt and perish, unless 

 frequently watered ; whereas similar plants started in the 

 soil, may be transplanted without suffering in the slight- 

 est degree, though the soil be of the usual dryness, and 

 receive no water. 



The water-bred . seedlings, if abundantly watered as 

 often as the foliage wilts, recover themselves after a time, 

 and thenceforward continue to grow without the need of 

 watering. 



It might appear that the first-formed water-roots are in- 



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