worthy to pronounce it, it may convey to our bosoms a feeling of such sweet encouragement, that we need no longer fear to proceed with our petition, in all things making our wants and supplications known to Him, who, though he is in heaven and we on earth, yet bids us call him Father, and deigns to own us for his children.

INTRODUCTION

TO

THE STUDY OF NATURE.

BOTANY.

(Continued from page 36.)

THE WOOD. Within the bark, and forming the principal substance and shape of the stem, we find the wood-a hard, firm substance, composed of strong fibres. It appears that a fresh circle or layer of the wood is formed every year, becoming hardened by time and cold; which occasions the distinct rings we observe in the wood when cut; rings of different hardness, and, in some trees, of colours beautifully varied. It cannot be necessary to speak of the uses of this wood: they are too many to enumerate, and too common to be overlooked. In the heart of the vegetable body is the Pith, or Medulla, a light, whitish substance, of which the use does not appear to be well understood-but it is doubtless of service to the plant in some way, by nourishing and supporting its vital powers.

THE SAP VESSELS AND SAP.-In all parts of the vegetable there are small vessels spreading in every direction like the veins of our body. By breaking and slowly separating a young branch of Elder, you will see them curiously unwinding themselves from their spiral form. Through these vessels, doubtless, the plant receives its nourishment, the air and water necessary to it, and the various fluids we extract from vegetables, such

as gums, acids, perfumes, and many other things of great utility. In what manner these juices are formed, and how they are kept separate from each other, is difficult, perhaps impossible for us to discover. Besides these juices there is in vegetables a fluid called the Sap, which seeming to be derived from the root, pervades every part of the plant: by wounding the stem of a tree in the spring or autumn, large quantities of this sap may be obtained. It appears as it were the blood of the plant, and circulates rapidly through it. When drawn out it has the appearance of water, and seldom any taste. This fluid in its passage through the leaves and branches, forms itself into other fluids of various flavour and qualities. In the Fir tree it deposits turpentine, in the Plum and Cherry it forms a gum. Thence also are the exquisite perfumes of the Lavender and Jasmine, drawn out by distillation.

Beside these we have acids from Sorrel and other plants-bitters, as from the Gentian root-alkali or salts, such as salt of Tartar, and Soda, drawn chiefly, but not exclusively, from plants growing near the seaand sugar, which is found to exist in most plants, especially in their fruits, but is in greatest quantity in the Sugar cane.

Added to the various fluids extracted from plants, there is always an evaporation, insensible, but in some vegetables very rapid. In the Annual Sunflower it is said to be seventeen times as rapid as from the human skin; and the Cornelian Cherry is asserted to evaporate nearly twice the weight of the plant in twenty-four hours.

Some plants, such as Bamboo Cane, and the straw of Wheat, are found to contain a small quantity of flint, which accounts for burnt straw being used in giving a polish to marble.

For the different colours of plants we cannot account -but we may well see it in the goodness of Providence, that having made the greater part green because it is the colour most refreshing to the eye, has yet embellished

them with tints so various, that new beauty is presented

to us every

hour.

That vegetables contain heat is proved by the melting of snow sooner on their leaves and stems than on lifeless substances. And we well know that warmth is necessary to their life and growth, most plants dying when exposed to much greater cold than they are accustomed to in their native climes; while their growth is often accelerated by artificial heat.

THE ROOT.-The Root is the basis of the plant, serving at once to fix it in its place and to derive nourishment for its support. It is usually therefore beneath the ground, and consists of two parts, the Caudex or body of the root, and the Radiculæ or fibres. As the fibres only imbibe nourishment, they wither every year, and the plant may then be best transplanted: when beginning to put forth new fibres, it is difficult to remove it without injury, unless very young and well supplied with water by the leaves till it recovers. Some roots are annual, and live only one season; some are biennial, produced one year, and flowering the next; and others perennial, living and blossoming through many succeeding years. Some plants that are perennial in warmer climates become annual in ours, as does the Nasturtium of our gardens.

THE STEM. The stem, botanically called Caulis, rises from the root, and bears both roots and flowers: such are the trunks and branches of trees and shrubs. The Scapus, or Stalk, grows from the root, and bears the flower and fruit, but not the leaves, as in the Cowslip and Narcissus. The Pedunculus, or Flower-stalk, grows from the stem, and bears only the flower and fruit. The Petiolus, or Leaf-stalk, bears the leaves only. A Frons, or Frond, is where the flower and fruit grow on the leaf, as in Ferns. Stipes, or Stipe, is the stem of the Frond, as of a Fern, or as the stalk of a Mushroom.

BUDS.-By buds we do not mean the unopened flower commonly called so, but the parts of a future