"As

these singularities contribute to one end. this plant blossoms late in the year, and probably would not have time to ripen its seeds before the access of winter, which would destroy them, Providence has contrived its structure such, that this important office may be performed at a depth in the earth out of reach of the usual effects of frost."* That is to say, in the autumn nothing is done above ground but the business of impregnation; which is an affair between the antheræ and the stigmata, and is probably soon over. The maturation of the impregnated seed, which in other plants proceeds within a capsule, exposed together with the rest of the flower to the open air, is here carried on, and during the whole winter, within the heart, as we may say, of the earth, that is "out of the reach of the usual effects of frost." But then a new difficulty presents itself. Seeds, though perfected, are known not to vegetate at this depth in the earth. Our seeds, therefore, though so safely lodged, would, after all, be lost to the purpose for which all seeds are intended. Lest this should be the case," a second admirable provision is made to raise them above the surface when they are perfected, and to sow them at a proper distance;" viz. the germ grows up in the spring, upon a fruit-stalk, accompanied with leaves. The seeds now, in common with those of other plants, have the benefit of the summer, and are

* Withering's Botanical Arrangement, p. 360.

sown upon the surface. The order of vegetation externally is this:-the plant produces its flowers in September; its leaves and fruits in the spring following.

66

V. I give the account of the dionœa muscipula, an extraordinary American plant, as some late authors have related it; but whether we be yet enough acquainted with the plant, to bring every part of this account to the test of repeated and familiar observation, I am unable to say. 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 recognize 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 syrup, the rows of strong

Smellie's Philosophy of Natural History, vol. i. p. 5.

+ TAB. XXXVI. The diona mucipula, or Venus's fly-trap. Some parts of this plant are so remarkable as to deserve a more particular description. It is a native of North Carolina; the root perennial; leaves all radical, supported on long fleshy and strongly veined footstalks, leaving a small portion of this next the leaf naked: the leaf itself consists of two semi-oval lobes jointed at the back, so as to allow them to fold close together; they are fleshy, and when viewed through a lense glandular,

prickles, their position so as to interlock the joints of the leaves; and what is more than the rest, that singular irritability of their surfaces, by which they close at a touch; all bear a contributory part in producing an effect, connected either with the defence or with the nutrition 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 organization of which, if they be organized, we are confessedly 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,

sometimes of a reddish colour on the upper surface; the sides of both lobes are furnished with a row of cartilaginous cilia which stand nearly at right angles with the surface of the leaf, and lock into each other when they close. Near the middle of each lobe are three small spines, which are supposed to assist in destroying the entrapped insect. In warm weather the lobes are fully expanded and highly irritable, and if a fly or other insect at this time. light upon them they suddenly close, and the poor animal is imprisoned till it dies. See Curtis's Botanical Magazine, No. 785.