A SWEDE IN ENGLAND. 
173 - 
“ Supplied with moisture and a suitable temperature, the seed begins to swell 
and soften. In the field the seed gets its moisture from the soil ; when sown, it 
should not be placed toodeep in the ground, but should be covered just sufficiently to 
keep it moist. The cells of the plantlet contain the living protoplastn, which is- 
chemically a nitrogenous substance like the stored-up gluten ; in the plantlet it is 
in a condition of rest, but is capable of resuming activity under favourable circum- 
stances. Every active cell in a plant is either filled with protoplasm or its walls 
are lined with it. By its agency all the work of the plant is carried on : the ele- 
ments of the food are taken in through root and leaf, are manufactured into organ- 
ised substances, are transmitted to where they are needed, and are there built up 
into the tissues of the plant by protoplasm. The starch and other carbo-hydrates 
in the seed supply the material for the formation of new cell walls, while the 
nitrogenous gluten serves to make good the waste and to increase the bulk of the 
protoplasm. The new life manifests itself by the growth of the minute plant, which 
soon bursts through the skin [i], first sending dow’n its rootlet and then pushing 
upw'ards its stem. The whole plantlet escapes from the seed except the scutellum, 
which remains attached to the [2] store of food. . . . 
“ In another three days the roots [5] have actively extended themselves, and 
have developed a number of fine hairs [6], which supply a large surface for taking 
in the needed water. There are no openings in the roots for the entrance of water ; 
it is taken in through the walls of the root hairs [10]. Dissolved in it the wheat-plant 
secures some mineral and other substances necesssary for its food, such as com- 
pounds of nitrogen, potash, lime, magnesia, silica, iron, phosphorus, and sulphur. 
In his use of different mineral and other manures, the farmer supplies the neces- 
sary substances in which the field is deficient, or replaces those that have been re- 
moved by former crops. 
“ The leaves are still covered by the protecting sheath [6], and new ones are be- 
ing formed at the growing point of the stem. A transverse section [7] shows the 
cell structure of the protecting sheath, and the first green leaf folded up on itself. 
The leaf is covered by a skin ox epidermis, which encloses a mass of green cells [8], 
penetrated by slender fibres (^vascular bundles) passing up the leaf, and forming 
the veins. These fibres [9] (which are the leaf skeleton) form the supporting frame- 
work for the cell tissue and also serve to transmit fluids. The epidermis is pierced 
by numerous two-lipped mouths (stoma/es) to permit the entrance of the air to the 
green cells, and the escape of water-vapour and the gases set free by the plant.” 
A SWEDE IN ENGLAND. 
Peter Kalm, a translation of whose Visil to England in 1748 has lately been 
issued by Messrs. Macmillan, was a native of Finland, where he was born in 1715 
and died in 1779. He was a distinguished naturalist and a pupil of Linnceus, at 
whose recommendation he was commissioned by the Swedish Government to 
undertake a voyage to America, for the purpose of describing the natural produc- 
tions of that part of the world. Both on his way out and on his return he visited 
England, remaining about six months on the former occasion and five weeks on 
the second. In 1753 he published in Swedish an account of his travels in three 
volumes, of which the greater portion referred to his American experiences, and 
this has been published in English more than once. The portion referring to our 
own country has not, however, been translated until now, when Mr. Joseph 
Lucas has brought it before us in a handsome octavo volume. 
Books in which we can see ourselves as others saw us a long while ago are 
always interesting ; more than one of the kind has been published in Cassell’s 
National Library. Kalm’s volume differs from most of the kind in the fact that 
it is concerned less with people and towns than with the country and its various 
aspects. The writings of Arthur Young, William Ellis, and many more are 
readily available, and give abundant details of the agricultural life of the last 
century ; but Kalm’s simple narration of his travels adds a good deal to our 
knowledge of the authorities themselves. Of Ellis, for example, not much was 
known beyond what could be gathered from his own books. Kalm, who visited 
him at Little Gaddesden, tells us a great deal about him, and his account cer- 
tainly detracts considerably from the impression derived from Ellis’s writings. 
