too much parch and dry them, if they lay open and expos'd to its Beams without any Shelter, the Leaves I fay, qualifie and contemper the Heat, and ferve alfo to hinder the too hafty evaporation of the moisture about the Root: But the principal ufe of the Leaves (as we learn of Seignior Malpighii, Monfieur Perault, and Monfieur Mariotte) is to concoct and prepare the Sap for the nourishment of the Fruit, and the whole Plant, not only that which afcends from the Root, but what they take in from without, from the Dew, moift Air and Rain. This they prove becaufe many Trees, if defpoil'd of their Leaves, will die; as it happens fometimes in Mulberry-Trees, when they are pluck'd off to feed Silk-worms. And because if in Summertime you denude a Vine-Branch of its Leaves, the Grapes will never come to maturity: But tho' you expose the Grapes to the Sun-beams, if you pluck not off the Leaves, they will ripen notwithstanding. That there is a regress of the Sap in Plants. from above downwards and that this defcendent Juice is that which principally nourisheth both Fruit and Plant, is clearly proved by the Experiments of Seignior Malpighii, and thcfe rare ones of an Ingenious Country Man of our own Thomas Brotherton Efquire, of which I fhall mention only one, that is, If you cut off a ring of Bark from the Trunk of any Tree, that part of the Tree above the Barked Ring fhall grow and encrease in bignefs, but not that beneath. *Philofop Tranfact. Num. 187 * But 105 But whether there be fuch a conftant circulation of the Sap in Plants as there is of the Blood in Animals, as they would from hence infer, there is fome reafon to doubt. I might add hereto the pleasant and delectable, cooling and refreshing Shade they afford in the Summer-time; which was very much efteem'd by the Inhabitants of hot Countries, who always took great delight and pleasure to fit in the open Air, under fhady Trees; Hence that Expreffion fo often repeated in Scripture, of every Man's fitting under his own Vine, and under his own Fig-tree, where alfo they us❜d to eat ; as appears by Abraham's entertaining the Angels under a Tree, and ftanding by them when they did eat, Gen. 18. 8. Moreover the Leaves of Plants are very beautiful and ornamental. That there is great pulchritude and comeliness of Proportion in the Leaves, Flowers and Fruits of Plants, is attefted by the general Verdict of Mankind, as Dr. More and others well obferve. The adorning and beautifying of Temples and Buildings in all Ages, is an evident and undeniable Teftimony of this: For what is more ordinary with Architects than the taking in Leaves and Flowers and Fruitage for the garnishing of their Work; as the Roman the Leaves of Acanthus fat. and the Jewish of Palm-Trees and Pomegranets: And these more frequently than any of the five regular Solids, as being more comely and pleafant to behold. If any Man fhall object, that comeliness of Propor * Antidote tion and Beauty is but a ineer Conceit, and that all things are alike handsome to fome Men who have as good Eyes as others; and that this ap pears by the variation of Fashions, which doth fo alter Mens Fancies, that what e'er-while feem'd very handfome and comely, when it is once worn out of fashion appears very abfurd, uncouth and ridiculous. To this I answer, that Cuftom and Use doth much in those Things where little of Proportion and Symmetry fhew themselves, or which are alike comely and beautiful, to difparage the one, and commend the other. But there are degrees of things; for (that I may ufe Dr. More's Words) I dare appeal to any Man that is not funk into fo forlorn a pitch of degeneracy that he is as ftupid to these things as the bafeft Beafts, whether, for example, a rightly-cut Tetraedrum, Cube or Icofaedrum have no more Pulchritude in them than any rude broken Stone, lying in the Field or High-ways; or to name other folid Figures, which tho' they be not regular properly fo call'd, yet have a fetled Idea and Nature, as a Cone, Sphere or Cylender, whether the fight of those do not more gratify the Minds of Men, and pretend to more elegancy of fhape than thofe rude cuttings or chippings of Free-stone that fall from the Mafon's hands, and ferve for nothing but to fill up the middle of the Wall, as fit to be hid from the Eyes of Men for their uglinefs. And therefore it is obfervable, that if Nature fhape any thing but near to this Geometrical ometrical Accuracy, that we take notice of it with much content and pleasure, and greedily gather and treasure it up. As if it be but exactly round, as thofe fpherical Stones found in Cuba, and fome alfo in our own Land, or have but its fides parallel, as thofe rhomboideal Selenites found near St. Ives in Huntingtonfire, and many other places in England. Whereas ordinary Stones of rude and uncertain Figures we pass by, and take no notice of at all. But tho' the Figures of thefe Bodies be pleafing and agreeable to our Minds, yet (as we have already obferv'd) thofe of the Leaves, Flowers and Fruits of Trees, more. And it is remarkable, that in the Cirumfcription and Complication of many Leaves, Flowers, Fruits, and Seeds, Nature affects a regular Figure. Of a pentagonal or quincunial Difpofition Sir Thomas Brown of Norwich produces feveral Examples in his Difcourfe about the Quincunx. And doubtless Inftances might be given in other regular Figures, were Men but obfervant. The Flowers ferve to cherish and defend the firft and tender Rudiments of the Fruit: I might alfo add the mafculine or prolifick Seed contain'd in the Chives or Apices of the Stamina. Thefe befide the Elegancy of their Figures, are many of them endued with fplendid and lovely Colours, and likewife moft grateful and fragrant Odours. Indeed fuch is the beauty and Luftre of fome Flowers, that our Saviour faith of the Lilies of the Field (which fome, not without Reafon, fuppofe to have been Tulips) that Solomon in all his Glory was not arrayed like one of thefe. *ag. ad * these. And it is obferv'd by Spirem Herbari- gelius, That the Art of the most skilful Painter cannot fo mingle and am. temper his Colours, as exactly to imitate or counterfeit the native ones of the Flowers of Vegetables. † Antidote against Atheim, 1. 2. c. 2. As for the Seeds of Plant, † Dr. More esteems it an evident fign of Divine Providence, that every Kind hath its Seed For it being no neceffary refult of the Motion of the Matter, (as the whole contrivance of the Plant indeed is not) and it being of fo great confequence, that they have Seed for the continuance and propagation of their own Species, and alfo for the gratifying Man's Art, Induftry and Neceffities, (for much of Husbandry and Gardening lies in this) it cannot but be an Act of Counsel to furnish the feveral Kinds of Plants with their Seeds. Now the Seed being fo neceffary for the maintenance and encrease of the feveral Species, it is worthy the Obfervation, what care is taken to fecure and preferve it, being in fome doubly and trebly defended. As for inftance, in the Walmit, Almond, and Plumbs of all forts, we have firft a thick pulpy Covering, then a hard Shell, within which is the Seed enclos'd in a double Membrane. In the Nutmeg another Tegument is added befides all thefe, viz. the Mace between the green Pericarpium and the hard Shell, immediately enclosing the Kernel. Neither yet doth the exteriour Pulp of the Fruit or Pericarpium ferve only for the defence and security |