PLANTS. 
3 
ject is certainly very fit for the purpose ; since its 
parts, after it begins to vegetate, are more conspicu- 
ous than many others, and consequently better cal- 
culated for investigation. 
The tender parts of the bean, like most other 
seeds, are covered by one epidermis , or skin, which 
consists of two coats, or membranes, that may be 
easily separated from the bud after the bean has 
been boiled, or deposited for a few days in the 
earth. When this covering is removed, the body 
of the seed divides into two smooth portions or 
lobes. Previous to the removal of the external 
coat a very small hole may be perceived at the 
thick end of the bean, through which the future 
root passes into the soil. The little bud, that 
precious particle which in time is to become a fruit- 
ful plant, is sunk like a small stud on the top of 
the lobes, and consists of a stock and a pedicle. 
This minute germ is enclosed within corresponding 
cavities in each lobe ; and the two ends of it, in 
shooting from the body of the bean, take contrary 
directions; the root descends into the earth through 
the little hole already mentioned, and there divides 
into a great number of smaller branches, which 
serve as so many canals to convey the necessarjr sap 
for the nourishment of the future plant. The bud, 
on the contrary, ascends into the open air, where 
it unfolds itself, and by degrees shoots into that 
beautiful assemblage of stem leaves and flowers, 
which are so conspicuous in most of the vegetable 
creation. 
u 2 
