OF PLANTS. 
207 
tance;” viz. the germ grows up in the spring, upon a fruit 
stalk, accompanied with leaves. The seeds now, in com¬ 
mon with those of other plants, have the benefit of the sum¬ 
mer, and are sown upon the surface. The order of vege¬ 
tation externally is this:—The plant produces its flowers in 
September; its leaves and fruits in the spring following. 
V. I give the account of the dioncea muscipnla , [Plate 
XXXVIII.] an extraordinary American plant, as some late 
authors have related it: but whether we be yet enough ac¬ 
quainted with the plant, to bring every part of this account 
to the test of repeated and familiar observation, I am unable 
to say. Its leaves are jointed, and furnished with two rows 
of strong prickles; their surfaces covered with a number of 
minute glands, which secrete a sweet liquor that allures 
the approach of flies. When these parts are touched by 
the legs of flies, the two lobes of the leaf instantly spring 
up, the rows of prickles lock themselves fast together, and 
squeeze the unwary animal to death.”* Here, under a 
new model, we recognise the ancient plan of nature, viz. 
the relation of parts and provisions to one another, to a 
common office, and to the utility of the organized body to 
which they belong. The attracting sirup, the rows of 
strong prickles, their position so as to interlock the joints 
of the leaves; and what is more than the rest, that sin¬ 
gular irritability of their surfaces, by which they close at 
a touch; all bear a contributory part in producing an ef¬ 
fect, connected either with the defence, or with the nu¬ 
trition of the plant. 
CHAPTER XXI. 
THE ELEMENTS. 
When we come to the elements, we take leave of our 
mechanics; because we come to those things, of the or¬ 
ganization of which, if they be organized, we are confess¬ 
edly ignorant. This ignorance is implied by their name. 
To say the truth, our investigations are stopped long 
before we arrive at this point. But then it is for our 
comfort to find, that a knowledge of the constitution of the 
elements is not necessary for us. For instance, as Addison 
has well observed, “ we know water sufficiently, when we 
* Smellie’s Phil, of Nat. His. vol. i. p. 5. 
