THE VEGETATIVE ORGANS OF 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. (Henneberg’s Jour. 
Sir Landwirthschaft, 1863, p. 280.) This growth towards 
water must be accounted for on the principles 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, 
producing abundant foliage, flowering, and perfecting seeds, 
without a moment’s contact of their roots with any soil. 
(See Water- Culture, p. 167.) 
If plants thus growing with their root3 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- 
