146 VEGETABLE STRUCTURE. 
by a tube of that efTential part j the reft is only their fupport or covering. 
A view of thefe fix Clufters, as they appear in a thin tranfverfe fedtion of 
the Leaf-Stalk, is ftiewn Figure 3. 
These fix Clufters of Veffels run ftrait up to the bafe of the Leaf, where 
they make a fmail Gland ; and thence are carried along the principal divi- 
lions, in form of Ribs j fending other fmall branches from them, which 
again return into them. The body of the Leaf is compofed of tlie entire 
Staik, expanded into that form. The Membranes wliich cover it make 
the upper and lower Skin, and the white part of the Vafcular Clufters fe- 
parated from the reft, fupports the Vcftcls along the middle. 
\V E fee, therefore, that this Leaf is no more than a produdtion in 
length of certain parts of the Root ; and may be confidered as one entire 
Glanl, ferving for the fecretion and preparation of a certain Juice, need- 
ful afterwards for the furnifning the Flower, and for the evaporation, and 
abforption of moifture. Its communication with the Root is open, and 
evident ; and this is its plain ufe. The Leaves of many Perennial Plants, 
while young, anfwer the fame purpofe i and there are two feafons wherein 
they grow and decay again, while the Flower is yet in the Bud, at the 
crown of the fame Root. This is very evident in the Seedling Anemonies 
and Ranunculufes. 
We come next to examine the third part of this Plant ; the Flowering 
Stalk, Fig. r, b. Tifis differs little in external appearance from the Leaf, 
and its Footftalk j only upon its center refts a Flower. This Flower-Stem 
rifes from the crown of the Root, by a narrow neck. The outer coat of 
the Root is thrown off entirely at the Crown, making a fcaly Bud, and a 
kind of fcabbard for this Stalk, at its rifing : but all the other fubftances, 
the Flefli in part and the reft entirely, are continued to it, except the Pith. 
Let the curious, who follow thefe experiments, make careful fe^ions 
of the Plant ; for the fame body, cut in various directions, affords different 
appearances ; and the fliping of a knife might accufe this account of error. 
Let the Stalk be cut thro’ tranfverfely, and fplit perpendicularly near the 
crown of the Root, and things will be feen as at Fig. 4, and at the Letter 
d in P'ig. 2. The inner Rind of the Root makes the outer covering of 
this Stalk ; but it is in this part reduced to an extream thinnefs. Within 
this appears the Blea ; which is white, vafcular, and fomewhat thicker. 
Within this lies the Vafcular Series, then the Flefti, and within that the 
Conic Clufters ; then, in the midft, the Pith, rifing from the Flefliy Sub- 
ftance in the crown of the Root, and forming a delicate and fpungy lin- 
ing. 
