INTRODUCTION, 
xm 
of the opinion that vegetables receive their non ri fit- 
ment only through the afcending part of the plant* 
as the item, branches, leaves, czc. - 3 and that their 
defcending parts, as the root and fibres, only ferve 
to hold and retain them in their places : yet 1 be- 
lieve they imbibe rain and dews through their 
leaves, items, and branches, by extremely minute 
pores, which open on both furfaces of the leaves 
and on the branches, which may communicate to 
little auxiliary dudts or vefTcls ; or, perhaps the 
cool dews and ihowers, by conilridling thefe pores, 
and thereby preventing a too free perforation, may 
recover and again invigorate the languid nerves of 
thofe which feem to fuller for want of water, in 
great heats and droughts ; but whether the infedte 
caught in their leaves, and which dififolve and mix 
with the fluid, ferve for aliment or fupport to 
thefe kind of plants, is doubtful. All the Sarra- 
cenias are infedl catchers, and fo is the Drofiea 
rotundifolia. 
But admirable are the properties of the extraor- 
dinary Dionea mufcipula ! A great extent on each 
fide of that Terpentine rivulet is occupied by thole 
fportive vegetables — let us advance to the fpot in 
which nature has feated them. Aftonifhing pro- 
duction ! fee the incarnate lobes expanding, how 
gay and fportive they appear S ready on the fpring 
to intrap incautious deluded infedls .! what artifice ! 
there behold one of the leaves juft clofed upon a 
ftruggling fly; another has gotten a worm; its hold is 
fure, its prey can never eicape— carnivorous vege- 
table ! Can we after viewing this objedt, hefitate a 
moment to confefs, that vegetable beings are en- 
dued with feme fenfible faculties or attributes, 
.firrilar to thofe that dignify animal nature 5 they are 
arganical, 
b 3 
