Of V °getatmu 3 zp 
Experiment CXXII. 
That the Leaves and Stems of Plants do 
imbibe elaftick air, there is fome reafon to 
fufped, from the following Experiment, 
which in the firft edition of this book, I 
mentioned as not made with accuracy 
enough, but I have fince repeated it with 
greater accuracy, viz. June 29 th I fet a well 
rooted plant of Pepper- mint in a glafs cif- 
tern full of earth, and then poured in as 
much water as it would contains over 
this glafs ciftern I placed an inverted glafs 
zz, a a, as in Fig . 3 5 - the water being 
drawn up by means of a fyphon to a a. 
At the fame time alfo, I placed in the fame 
manner another inverted glafs zz, a a of e- 
qual fize with the former, but without any 
plant under it : the capacity of thefe veffels 
above the water a a was equal to 49 cubicle 
inches. In a month’s time the Mint had made 
feveral weak {lender {hoots, and many fmall 
hairy roots fhot out at the joints that were 
above water, occaftoned probably by the 
great moifture of the air, in which the plant 
flood 5 half the leaves of the old ftem were 
now dead 5 but the leaves and ftem of the 
yqung fhoots continued green moft part of 
the 
