23 



unripe fibres become woody roots, and the 

 children become men, — they are the very 

 springs of vital energy. 



Particular stress is laid on these doc- 

 trines, because they account for the free 

 growth of a transplanted tree when the 

 small fibres, or ends of its roots, are all 

 cut off, in contradiction to the universal 

 vulgar error that trees absorb moisture 

 only from the small mouths or sponges at 

 the ends of their roots. If it is answered, 

 that the roots of these transplanted trees, 

 and the cuttings, absorb only from their 

 ends which are cut, and that in the case 

 of the olive branches the pillars of earth 

 only prevent transpiration, I must con- 

 fess that the theory is possible, but think 

 the reverse most probable. . And how have 

 the cuttings absorbed whose ends were out 

 of the ground ? 



The upward course of the sap is through 

 the whole woody part of the roots, stem, 

 and branches of the tree. This woody 



B 4 



