i 62 THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 
plant is as little liable to exception as any mark of dis- 
tinction which vegetables present, as it is always the same 
in every plant of the species. He adds that some species 
of the bedstraw are admirably characterised by “ the bris- 
tles of their leaves being hooked backwards or forwards.” 
Those who are not accustomed to examine plants with 
a microscope, are little aware of the wonders they present 
to the close observer, or of the perfect structure which 
even the smallest plant exhibits. The situation of the 
hairs, as well as their mode of arrangement, on the stems 
and leaves of vegetables, differs greatly in various in- 
stances. In some cases they are disposed in a starry 
form; in others they are branched and entangled. Some 
hairs are armed with barbs at their summits, which pre- 
vent their being extracted from any object they enter. 
Some are cylindrical in form, others jointed like a bam- 
boo ; and occasionally the hairs themselves are beset with 
still finer hairs. The downy clothing is designed, in most 
plants, to defend them from winds or insects, or from too 
great a degree of cold, or the heats of summer. In addi- 
tion to these more obvious purposes, it has been thought 
by many philosophers that hairs serve, by the number of 
points which they present to the air, to convey a degree 
of electricity from the atmosphere, or to restore the elec- 
tric equilibrium which may have been disturbed by the 
processes of vegetation.” Hairs are never found on very 
succulent plants, nor on those which are wholly immersed 
in water. 
The minute investigation necessary to ascertain facts of 
this kind, is by some considered a useless employment; 
as if that were unworthy the notice of man which the 
Great Creator deemed worthy of his skill. “The world,” 
says Sir Thomas Browne, “ was made to be studied and 
contemplated by man ; it is the debt of our reason we owe 
to God, and the homage we pay for not being beasts.” 
One great advantage attending botanical observations is 
that they accustom the student to habits of accuracy. The 
effort demanded by the study may at first appear tedious ; 
but the interest shortly acquired, as he discovers marks 
of providential design, and minute and unexpected exem- 
plifications of beauty, will not fail to gratify the observer. 
The habit of accuracy, once formed, is also likely to 
