in The PREFACE. 



About 20 years flnce, I made fever al ha- 

 tnaftatical Experiments onTfogs, and 6 years 

 afterwards repeated the fame on Horfes and 

 other Animals, in order to find out the real 

 force of the blood in the Arteries, fome of 

 which are mentioned in the third chapter of 

 this book : At which times I wifhed I could 

 have made the like Experiments, to difcover 

 the force of the Sap in Vegetables -, but deft 

 p aired of ever effecting it, till about [even 

 years fince, by mere accident I hit upon it, 

 while I was endeavouring by fever al ways to 

 ft op the bleeding of an old ft em of a Vine, which 

 was cut too near the bleeding feafon, which I 

 fearedmight kill it : Having, after other means 

 proved ineffectual, tyed a piece of bladder over 

 the tranfverfe cut of the Stem? I found the 

 force of the Sap did greatly extend the bladder j 

 whence I concluded, that if a longglafs Tube 

 were fixed there in the fame manner, as I had 

 before done to the Arteries of fever al living 

 Animals, I Jhould thereby obtain the real aft 

 tending force of the Sap in that Stem, which 

 fucceeded according to my expectation^ and 

 hence it is, that I have been infenfibly led on, 

 to make farther and fart her refearches by va- 

 riety of Experiments, 



As 



