64 
OF BUDS. 
Is Nature’s progress, when she lectures man 
In heavenly truth ; evincing, as she makes 
The grand transition, that there lives and works 
A soul in all things, and that soul is God. 
He sets the bright procession on its way, 
And marshals all the order of the year ; 
He marks the bounds which winter may not pass, 
And blunts his pointed fury ; in its case , 
Russet and rude, folds up the tender germ, 
Uninjured, with inimitable art ; 
And ere one flowery season fades and dies, 
Designs the blooming wonders of the next.” 
1011. 
You may here see a representation (Fig. 12.) of 
two scaly buds ; one of which appears as if cut ver- 
tically, in order to show the germ or embryo which 
is enfolded by the scales. 
Some French botanists* have explained the form- 
ation of the scaly covering of buds in a manner 
somewhat different from the generally received opin- 
They suppose that the bud does indeed begin its existence 
in the latter part of summer, the eye being then formed ; that it 
exists in this state during the winter, but being acted upon by 
some change of the temperature, it begins to force its way 
through the bark into the atmosphere ; here the young leaves 
which would put forth, becoming chilled by an ungenial atmos- 
phere, contract and harden, and at length form scales. These 
scales afterwards protect the new leaves, that, urged by the 
same vegetable instinct are in their turn, seeking to emerge into 
light and air. If we admit this explanation with respect to the 
formation of scales, it seems not difficult to account for that of 
the downy substance, which, lining these scales, protects the em- 
bryo leaves and flowers from cold ; and the covering of varnish, 
which defends them from moisture. 
"When the leaf becomes a scale, it then absorbs from the sap 
but a portion of what was destined for its use, and it is supposed 
that this sap is converted into the resinous substance, or varnish. 
With respect to the downy coat upon the inside of the scales, 
this may be seen in the rudiments of the leaves, if examined be- 
fore the bud is developed. 
These hypotheses do not, if correct, in any degree derogate 
Irom the wisdom of Him, of whom Cowper says “ that with art 
inimitable, he folds up the tender germ for whether he acts 
* Dc Ciindolle, and some others. 
Opinion of some botanists with respect to the formation of the scaly cov- 
ering of buds — These hypotheses if admitted, do not derogate from the wis- 
dom of the Creator. 
