124 
GERMINATION OF THE SEED. 
he found that all the radicles had made an angle to reach 
downwards. It is supposed that if the root met with no 
obstruction in going downwards it would always be perfectly 
straight. If you put cotton wool into a tumbler of water and 
place upon it some seeds of rye or wheat, which soon vegetate, 
you will see all the fibres shooting from the seeds in a per- 
pendicular direction downwards. It is a very simple and inter- 
esting experiment. Some ascribe this phenomenon to the laws 
of gravitation, by which the root is attracted towards the centre 
of the earth ; others say that the radicle stimulated by moist- 
ure, extends itself in the natural direction from which the moist- 
ure proceeds ; and some imagine that the plant is endowed with 
a kind of instinct, similar to that which often appears in ani- 
mals from their first moments of existence, leading the little 
duck to seek the water and birds to attempt to fly ; but let us 
call this power by what name we will, or refer it to whatever 
secondary laws, we must after all, attribute it to the will and 
design of Him who gave the plant a principle of vitality. 
After the young root has made some progress, the cotyledons 
swell, and rising out of the ground form two green leaves, cal- 
led seed leaves. You have no doubt noticed their appearance 
in the garden behn, when it first appears above the ground. 
When the plume developes leaves, these seed leaves are no lon- 
ger needed, and they generally wither and decay. 
You will recollect that the embryo or germ is composed of 
two parts, the radicle and the plume. The radicle we have just 
seen extends itself downwards. Soon after this part of the 
germ has begun its downward course, the plume, (so called from 
its resembling a little feather,) rises upwards, and soon becomes 
a tuft of young leaves, with which the stem, if there is one, as- 
cends. As particular examples often impress themselves more 
strongly upon the mind, than general principles, we will quote 
the following article from Sumner’s Botany. “ Some rye was 
planted in a good soil, and at the end of the second day its rad- 
icle was discernible. At the end of twenty four hours the em- 
bryo had escaped from its integument. On the second day the 
fibres of the root had augmented, but the leaves had not appear- 
ed. On the fourth day the first leaf began to appear above the 
ground, at which time the colour was red. On the fifth day, it 
had grown to the length of an inch, and its colour was now 
green, and on the sixth day the second leaf had appeared.” 
Rye however belongs to that class of plants whose seeds have 
but one cotyledon ; this never rises above the ground to form a 
seed leaf. Seeds with but one cotyledon are chiefly composed 
of albumen, which performs the same office of nourishing the 
Radicle why carried downwards — Plume — Seedl eaf — Seeds with but one 
Cotyledon — 
