INTRODUCTION. 
Xlll 
of the Opinion that vegetables receive their nourlfh- 
ment only through the afcending part of the plant, 
as the Item, branches, leaves, &c. ; and that their 
defcending parts, as the roots and fibres, only ferve 
to hold and retain them in their places: yet I be- 
lieve they imbibe rain and dews through their 
leaves, Hems, 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 veftels; or, perhaps the 
cool dews and fhowers, by conftridting thefe pores, 
and thereby preventing a too free perfpiration, may 
recover and again invigorate the languid nerves of 
thofe which feem to fuffer for want of water, in 
great heats and droughts ; but whether the infedts 
caught in their leaves, and which diffolve and mix 
with the fluid, ferve for aliment or fupport to 
thefe kind of plants, is doubtful. All the Sarra- 
cenias are infedt catchers, and fo is the Droftea 
rotundifolia. 
But admirable are the properties of the extraor- 
dinary Dionea mufcipula ! A great extent on each 
fide of that ferpentine rivulet is occupied by thofe 
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 ! ready on the fpring 
to intrap incautious deluded infedts 1 what artifice ! 
there behold one of the leaves juft doled upon a 
ftruggling fly; another has gotten a worm ; its hold 
is fure, its prey can never efcape — carnivorous vege- 
table ! Can we after viewing this objedt, hefitate a 
moment to confefs, that vegetable beings are en- 
dued with fome fenfible faculties or attributes, 
fimil.ar to thofe that dignify animal nature; they are 
b 3 orgamcal. 
