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Show Philofophical Hiftory ofPlants. : ue Refledtiont f Ca t is left L ef, and wha : Sah a tH zs re ' tC < : ie st alia re add Vie oe : 2 Ps Ceritoac te a “ ee. se Nie s . av Dt nigh, fo finding out, iu Gre Re no. Sng eh teey ale pel oak. fous abour mee Siren a Hae solace T 5 5: §. And how far foeverthis kind of Knowledge maybe attaina- . ble, its being fo far alfo worthy ourattainment will be granted. For beholding the Many and -Elegant Varieties,- wherewi th a Field or Gardenis adorned 5 Who wouldnotfay, That it were exceeding plea= fant to know what we See: and not more delightful, toone who has Eyes, to difcernthat all is very fines than to.another who hath Reafox, aks and how.? Thisisfurely to underft furely were were forafor:a- Man M to take ak a True rt Inventory of his Goods, andhisbeft wayto puta price upon them. Yea it feems, that this were not only to be Partaker of Divine Bounty 5 but alfo, in fome degree, To be Copartner in thé Secrets of Divine Art. That which were very defireable, unlef§ we fhould think it impertinent for us to defign the Kyowing of That, which God hath once thought fit to Da. 6. §. Ifforthele, andother Reafons, an inquiry into the Nature of Vegetation may be of good Import 5 Itwill be requifite to fee, firft of all, What mayofferit felf to be enquired of ; or to underftand, what our Scepe is: That fodoing, we may take ouraim the better in making, and having made, in applying our Obférvations thereunto. Amongft other Inquiries therefore, fuch .as thefe deferve to be propofed. Firft, by what means it is that a Plant, or any Part ofit,comes to Grow, a Seed to put fortha Root and Trunk; and this, all the other Parts, to the Seedagain3, and all thefe being, formed, by continual Nu- trition {till to be izcreafed. How the Aliment by which a Plant is fed, ‘is duly prepared in its feveral Parts; which way’ it is conveyed unto them; and in what manner it is afimilated to their refpective Na- tures in them all. Whence:this Growth and Augmentation, isnot made ofone, but manydiffering Degrees, unto both extremes offaall and great; whether the comparifon be made betwixt feveral Plants, or the feveral Parts ofone. How not only their sizes, but alfo their Shapes are fo exceeding various; as of Roots, in bemg Thick orSlen- der, Short or Long, Entire.or Parted, Stringed or Ramified, and the like: of Trunks, fome being more Entire, others Branched, others Shrub’d: of Leaves, which are Long or Round, Even-edg'd or Ef callop'd, and many other ways different, yet always Flat: and fo for the other Parts. Thento inquire, What fhould be the reafonoftheir various Motions ; that the Rost fhould defcend 5 that its defcent fhould fometimes be perpendicular, fometimes more level: That the Trunk doth adjudge afeends and that the afcent thereof, as to the {pace of Time wherein it is made, is of different meafures: and of divers other Motions, as uf Prudet ce, Her Scholars have tak they are obfervable in the Roots, Trunks, and other Parts of Plants. Whence again, thefe Motions have their Different, and Stated Terms’; e behove us to confider, how much ofthe € yet unknown 5 Than, to be- Not the 3to : concluding fr of any Mens Un1 inted Poffible,as to the . ine , It is impoffible to Mi ly to under-meafure, hich we are not wont to car We Birth, for their Ful/ Growth, and for their Teeming 5 and the like. Further, what may be the Caufes as of the Seafons of their Growth + fo of the Periods of their Lives; fome being Azxual, others Biennial, others Perennial ; fome Perennial both as to their Roots and Trunks 5 andfome as to their Roots only. idence, byInfinite Neither can we de that Plants have their fet and peculiar seafons for their Spring or Then, asthey pafs through thefe fe- veral Seafons of their Lives, in what manner their convenient feeding, houfing, cloathing or protection otherwife, is contrived 5 wherein; in this kind and harmonious Occonomy, one Part, maybe officious to another, for the prefervation ofthe health and life of the whole. And laftly, what careis taken, not only for themfelves, but for their Posterity3 int Cc what |