( m ) 
from feeds.; that their fpecies are conftant, 
and renewed by uniform laws ; notwithstand- 
ing it muft be confeffed, that we are yet 
much in the dark concerning this part of the 
vegetable creation ; but, as it is now particu- 
larly attended to, a few years may probably 
make us acquainted with the various modes 
of it's reproduction. We already owe much 
to the accurate inveftigations of Mr. Curtis, 
and to other able botanifts of the prefent age, 
who have elucidated the knowledge of thefe 
plants by many beautiful drawings. In the 
clafs Cryptogamia advantage may be particu- 
larly derived from tnefe publications, as by 
ftudying the pictures of various plants belong- 
ing to that clafs, an intereft in the originals 
will be acquired, and the ftudent be led to 
fearch into their hiftories, in which, no doubt, 
there is much curious matter to be acquainted 
with. The late difcoveries of the wonderful 
manner by which various fpecies of the ani- 
mal kingdom are continued, may poffibly lead 
to fome equally extraordinary in the modes of 
vegetable reproduction. The hiftories of the 
Polypi or Hydrae aftonifli us, particularly of the 
Hydra Stentorea, which multiplies by fplitting 
lengthways; in twenty-four hours the two di- 
vifions, which adhere to a common pedicle, re- 
fplit, 
