Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-01-10
AMERICAN ORGAN.
Smithsonian Lectures.
REPORTED foR THE AMERICAN ORGAN.
VEGETATION.

VEGETATION.
By PRoF. ASA GREY OF HOWARD UNIVERSITY.
He commenced by referring to the unpropitious
time at which he was called to lecture upon this
subject; and then spoke In eloquent terms Of the
beauty offspring. One idea to which he here gave
utterance is well worthy representation at is
in the spring that the rose of summer is woven"
He then considered what vegetation is, and
what it brings to pass.
| Vegetation does not consist of thin layer Of
uniform green matter spread over the soil more or
less abundantly, as some suppose, but is made up
Of great number ofindividual plants, each per-
feet in itself, all conspiring to the same end As
the biographer Of one person will excmplfy the
main principles Of human nature, SO will the his
tory of single plant illustrate all the laws Of veg
citation.
Early vegetation proceeds mostly from buds
| formed the preceding year, which, in the spring.
are ready to deveope in such buds as those Of the
lilac, and horse echestnut the leaves Of the future
branch are already In existence, packed away in
small compass beneath the protecting scales Of the
| bud.
He then spoke of the seed. II is thought by
some that 1t is merely portion of some proper or
ganic material out of which the plant is formed at
the time Of termination, but this is not the case
The plantlet does not originate in the seed after
it is sown in the soil; it only develops and unfods
the parts already existing in the seed We may
easily see the plantlct in any sound seed-pcrfect
| though rudimentary--an embryo as it is called.
| In seeds will be seen two plans, and all seeds
show one or the other. In one case the embryo
| fills the whole interior, and has stored up within
its tissue enough nourshment to supply the growth
until 1t has unfolded its parts and is able to pro-
vide for ITSELF This food is accumulated in the
seed-leaves-the cotyledons as they are styled and
is mostly In the form Of starch, similar nutritious
| matter.
Quite as often the other plan is seen where the
nourishnient is stored up, not the body of the
plant, but around It, as in buckwheat corn, wheat
rice, &c. Here the embryo is small compared with
the bulk of the seed the leaves are thin, and small
in proportion to the embryo stem.
In termination, the plantet has only to expand its
parts, and in order to assume its proper position, IL
is endowed with kind Of instinct. When buried
in the ground, the stem unerringly points toward
the light, curving turning quite round itself II
its position requires The root as uniformly seeks
to bury itself deep in the earth. But the stem and
root grow in different ways--while the stem elon-
gates, expanding each part in proportion, the root
is formed by successive additions of new matter to
| the extremity.
| At this stage the plantlct has become perfect
vegetable, with a root to absorb moisture, and
stem to bear the leaves to digest this food. But
the stem attains Its growth; is as long as II
will be- and bears leaf or pair of leaves on It's
summit
| Then the same process is again gone through
| from these leaves rises another stem, which
in turn, is crowned with bud; which in
its turn sends forth stem, and 80 on till the plant
| dies
In some cases the stem bears but one leaf as in
the apple and the oak.
| Sometimes the first joint of the stem does not
elongate, but it and the seed-lcayes IL bears re.
main under ground. As In the case of the bean
though the cotyledons rise well out of the ground
| they are too fat with noufishment TO assume the
Office of leaves; so they furnish nourishment to
the next joint Of the stem. The same is more
readily seen In case of the pea the BIRCH and horse
chestnut. Above ground the vegetation of the
plant is composed of a succession of similar parts
one rising from the summit of another-each the
offspring Of the preceding, and the parent of the
next thus joint by joint-a single simple stem is
carried up, as in grasses, the lily, the banana,
and the sugar cane.
In most cases, when the main stem is well under
way, additional stems are produced in the form Of
branches. They spring out at certain fixed points
alonc viz from the axis Of the leaves. Theleaves
are placed on the stem in symmetrical order, and
the buds only occur Mt the axis of the leaves with
the exception of the terminal onc--and partake Of
their symmetry-and the branches, which are de-
veloped buds partake Of that symmetry. The ar
! rangement of the leaves on the stem controls the
mode Of branching fixes the character the spray,
as will be seen in comparing oppositetedred plants,
such the lilac and horsechestnut with the alter
nateeaved, such as the beech, linden, and button
| wood.
He now spoke Of the way In which the buds Of
| the last year would shoot In the spring Being
encased by scales coated with resin, the outside,
to shed the superabundant moisture, and down
within, TO preserve even temperature they are
warmed into ygor by the genial warmth of spring;
and drawing largely upon the nourisbment proyi-
ded for them, and made accessible by the heat Of
the sun, as in the maple they make their appear
ance in strength and beauty. During summer, a
large part Of the work Of vegetation consisted in
producing and storing up nourishment for the use
of the plant after its rcposc when Il begins to grow
anew, while animals are formed on the principle Of
concentration, Of compactness, Of solidity.
| Vegetables arc constructed on the principle Of
extension of surface. He had computed the sur-
face presented by the Washington Elm, at Cam
bridge. II Is about to expand at least seven mill
lion of leads, forming superficial extent of about
FIVE acres Of foliage. And the reason Of this con-
trast is, that, while the plant finds in earth water
and air, It's appropriate food, the anpal feeds di-
rectly on the plant.
| Vegetation Is limited by the law which requires
that each plant shall after certain time, produce
flowers, fruit, and seed, which draw largely on the
resources Of the parent plant, and return nothing
TO it this always causes some portion Of the plant
and often the whole Of it, to perish with e1haus
| tion
The Professor read mis- lecture, but did not con-
fine himself closely to his notes, often explaining
by diagrams, and by analyzng various plants which
he had with him, at other times by diagrams,
which he drew on the blackboard. This method
of explanation is very little used by lecturers but
if all could use this auxiliary well as Professor
Grey, il would be great addition. Tho attention
Of the audience showed tho deep interest taken in
the lecture. The Professor will continue the sub
ject on Wednesday evening.
/ A gentleman in Alabama, in exerting himself
one day, felt sudden pain, and fearing his inter-
nal machinery had been thrown out Of gear, sent
Cor negro on his plantation, who made some pre-
tensions to medical skill, to prescribe for him, Tho
L n . II At u