200 
OF PLANTS. 
that is, downy appendages, by which they are enabled to 
float in the air, and are carried oftentimes by the wind to 
great distances from the plant which produces them. It 
is the swelling also of this downy tuft within the seed-vessel, 
that seems to overcome the resistance of its coats, and to 
open a passage for the seed to escape. 
But the constitution of seeds is still more admirable than 
either their preservation or their dispersion. In the body 
of the seed of every species of plant, or nearly of every one, 
provision is made for two grand purposes; first, for the 
safety of the germ; secondly, for the temporary support of 
the future plant. The sprout, as folded up in the seed, is 
delicate and brittle beyond any other substance. It can¬ 
not be touched without being broken. Yet, in beans, peas, 
grass-seeds, grain, fruits, it is so fenced on all sides, so 
shut up and protected, that, whilst the seed itself is rudely 
handled, tossed into sacks, shovelled into heaps, the sacred 
particle, the miniature plant, remains unhurt. It is won¬ 
derful also, how long many kinds of seeds, by the help 
of their integuments, and perhaps of their oils, stand out 
against decay. A grain of mustard seed has been known 
to lie in the earth for a hundred years; and, as soon as it 
hath acquired a favorable situation, to shoot as vigorously 
as if just gathered from the plant. Then, as to the second 
point, the temporary support of the future plant, the matter 
stands thus. In grain, and pulse, and kernels, and pippins, 
the germ composes a very small part of the seed. The 
rest consists of a nutritious substance, from which the 
sprout draws its aliment for some considerable time after 
it is put forth; viz. until the fibres, shot out from the other 
end of the seed, are able to imbibe juices from the earth, 
in a sufficient quantity for its demand. It is owing to this 
constitution, that we see seeds sprout, and the sprouts 
make a considerable progress without any earth at all. It 
is an economy also, in which we remark a close analogy 
between the seeds of plants, and the eggs of animals. The 
same point is provided for, in the same manner, in both. 
In the egg, the residence of the living principle, the cica¬ 
trix, forms a very minute part of the contents. The white, 
and the white only, is expended in the formation of the 
chicken. The yolk, very little altered, or diminished, is 
wrapped up in the abdomen of the young bird when it 
quits the shell, and serves for its nourishment, till it have 
learned to pick its own food. This perfectly resembles the 
first nutrition of a plant. In the plant, as well as in the 
animal, the structure has every character of contrivance 
