80 



The composite family comprises about one eighth or 

 a tenth of all the flowering kingdom, but is very diffi- 

 cult and tedious for study. The Golden rod which 

 adorns the hills and dales in autumn with a rich colo r 

 is a member of the Composite family, also Lettuce. 



THE USES OF PLANTS, 



The many plants which surround us are daily per- 

 forming very useful duties and filling the offices 

 assigned to them as their part in promoting the wel- 

 fare and prosperity of the great natural universe. If 

 one or two spokes in this great wheel be broken or dis- 

 abled a change is evident upon the whole. Great and 

 various changes are taking place among the numerous 

 plants which cover the earth, although no visible ac- 

 tion is noticeable. In the first place all plants have to 

 live and derive sustenance from something. How they 

 get it, and what it is that constitutes their nourish- 

 ment forms an interesting subject for study. When 

 a seed is planted in the ground it is hard and dry, and 

 when covered up, action immediately begins; the moist- 

 ure softens the shell or covering, and vivifies the em- 

 bryo, which causes the hull to burst; then the roots 

 proceed downward, and the head — or what in time pro- 

 duces the branches — upwards, till we see it peering 

 through the surfice, and ready to begin life after its 

 fashion. We now have a young plant, which is, in 

 comparison, hungry like an animal; they absorb moist- 

 ure and nutrition from the earth, and the stem and 

 leaves take in food from the air. When small the 



