FOOTNOTES:
[a] The fifth Book of Theophrastus’s Hist. Plant. may be here consulted: Where he gives ample instances of the various Constitutions and Uses of Trees, in various Works, &c. See also before [Book IV. Chap. 13. Note (a).]
[] Invisis quoque herbis inseruit [Natura] remedia: quippe cùm medicinas dederit etiam aculeatis——in quibus ipsis providentiam Naturæ satis admirari amplectique non est.——Inde excogitavit aliquas aspectu hispidas, tactu truces, ut tantùm non vocem ipsius fingentis illas, rationemque reddentis exaudire videamur, ne se depascat avida Quadrupes, ne procaces manus rapiant, ne neglecta vestigia obterant, ne insidens Ales infringat: his muniendo Aculeis, telisque armando, remediis ut tuta ac salva sint. Ita hoc quoque quod in iis odimus, hominum causa excogitatum est. Plin. N. H. L. 22 c. 6.
Are some of the Species of Nature noxious? They are also useful——Doth a Nettle sting? It is to secure so good a Medicine from the Rapes of Children and Cattle. Doth the Bramble cumber a Garden? It makes the better Hedge; where if it chanceth to prick the Owner, it will tear the Thief. Grew Cosmolog. L. 3. c. 2. §. 47.
[c] That the most abject Vegetables, &c. have their Use, and are beneficial to the World, may in some measure appear from the Use the Northern People put rotten Wood, &c. unto. Satis ingeniosum modum habent populi septentrionales in nemoribus nocturno tempore pertranseuntes, imo & diurno, quando in remotioribus Aquilonis partibus ante, & post Solstitium hyemale continuæ noctes habentur. Quique his remediis indigent, Cortices quercinos inquirunt putres, easque collocant certo interstitio itineris instituti, ut eorum splendore, quò voluerint, perficiant iter. Nec solùm hoc præstat Cortex, sed & Truncus putrefactus, ac fungus ipse Agaricus appellatus, &c. Ol. Mag. Hist. L. 2. c. 16.
To this we may add Thistles in making Glass, whose Ashes Dr. Merret saith, are the best, viz. the Ashes of the Common-way Thistle, though all Thistles serve to this Purpose. Next to Thistles are Hop-strings, cut after the Flowers are gathered. Plants that are Thorny and Prickly, seem to afford the best and most Salt. Merret’s Observ. on Anton. Ner. p. 265.
Quid majora sequar? Salices, humilesque Genistæ.
Aut illæ pecori frondem, aut pastoribus umbram
Sufficiunt, Sepemque satis, & pabula melli.
Virg. Georg. L. 2. ℣. 434.
[d] Dr. Beal (who was very curious, and tried many Experiments upon Vegetables) gives some good Reasons to imagine, that there is a direct Communication between the Parts of the Tree and the Fruit, so that the same Fibres which constitute the Root, Trunk, and Boughs, are extended into the very Fruit. And in old Horn-beams, I have observed something very like this; in many of which, there are divers great and small Ribs (almost like Ivy, only united to the Body) running from the Root up along the outside of the Body, and terminating in one single, or a few Boughs: Which Bough or Boughs spread again into Branches, Leaves and Fruit. See what Dr. Beal hath in Lowth. Abr. V. 2. p. 710.
But as to the particular Canals, and other Parts relating to the Anatomy of Vegetables, it is too long a Subject for this Place, and therefore I shall refer to Seigneur Malpighi’s and Dr. Grew’s Labours in this kind.
[e] Tanta est Respirationis necessitas, & usus, ut Natura in singulis viventium ordinibus varia, sed analoga, paraverit instrumenta, quæ Pulmones vocamus [and so he goes on with observing the Apparatus made in the various Genera of Animals, and then saith] In Plantis verò, quæ infirmum animalium attingunt ordinem, tantam Trachearum copiam & productionem extare par est, ut his minimæ Vegetantium partes præter corticem irrigentur.——Plantæ igitur (ut conjectari fas est) cum sint viventia, visceribus infixa terræ, ab hac, seu potius ab aquâ & aëre, commixtis & percolatis à terrâ, Respirationis suæ materiam recipiunt, ipsarumque Tracheæ ab halitu terræ, extremas radices subingresso, replentur. Malpig. Op. Anat. Plant. p. 15.
These Tracheæ or Air-Vessels, are visible, and appear very pretty in the Leaf of Scabious, or the Vine, by pulling asunder some of its principal Ribs, or great Fibres; between which, may be seen the Spiral Air-Vessels (like Threads of Cob-web) a little uncoyled: A Figure whereof, Dr. Grew hath given us in his Anat. Plant. Tab. 51. 52.
As to the curious coyling, and other Things relating to the Structure of those Air-Vessels. I refer to Malpig. p. 14. and Dr. Grew, ib. L. 3. c. 3. §. 16 &c. and L. 4. c. 4. §. 19. of Mr. Ray, from them succinctly, Hist. Plant. L. 1. c. 4.
[f] Concerning the Leaves, I shall note only two or three Things. 1. As to the Fibres of the Leaf, they stand not in the Stalk, in an even Line, but always in an Angular, or Circular Posture, and their vascular Fibres or Threads, are 3, 5, or 7. The Reason of their Position thus, is for the more erect Growth and greater Strength of the Leaf, as also for the Security of its Sap. Of all which see, Dr. Grew, L. 1. c. 4. §. 8. &c. and L. 4. Par. 1. c. 3. also Tab. 4. Fig. 2. to 11. Another Observable in the Fibres of the Leaf, is their orderly Position, so as to take in an eighth Part of a Circle, as in Mallows; in some a tenth, but in most a twelfth, as in Holy-Oak; or a sixth, as in Sirynga. Id. ib. Tab. 46, 47.
2. The Art in Folding up the Leaves before their Eruption out of their Gems, &c. is incomparable, both for its Elegancy and Security, viz. In taking up (so as their Forms will bear) the least room; and in being so conveniently couched as to be capable of receiving Protection from other Parts, or of giving it to one another, e.g. First, there is the Bow-lap, where the Leaves are all laid somewhat convexly one over another, but not plaited——but where the Leaves are not so thick set, as to stand in the Bow-lap, there we have the Plicature, or the Flat-lap; as in Rose-tree, &c. And so that curious Observer goes on shewing the various Foldings, to which he gives the Names of the Duplicature, Multiplicature, the Fore-rowl, Back-rowl, and Tre-rowl, or Treble-rowl. Grew. ib. L. 1. c. 4. §. 14, &c. To these he adds some others, L. 4. P. 1. c. 1. §. 9. Consult also Malpig. de Gemmis, p. 22. &c.
To these curious Foldings, we may add another noble Guard by the Interposition of Films, &c. of which Dr. Grew saith, there are about six Ways, viz. Leaves, Surfoyls, Ingerfoyls, Stalks, Hoods, and Mantlings. Grew. ib. and Tab. 41, 42. Malpig. ibid.
[g] In the Flower may be considered the Empalement, as Dr. Grew; the Calix, or Perianthium, as Mr. Ray and others, call it, designed to be a Security, and Bands, to the other Parts of the Flower. Floris velut basis & fulcimentum est. Ray Hist. L. 1. c. 10. Flowers, whose Petala are strong (as Tulips) have no Calix. Carnations, whose Petala are long and slender, have an Empalement of one Piece: And others, such as the Knap-weeds, have it consisting of several Pieces, and in divers Rounds, and all with a counterchangeable Respect to each other, for the greater Strength and Security of themselves, and the Petala, &c. they include.
The next is the Foliation, as Dr. Grew, the Petala, or Folia, as Mr. Ray, and others. In these, not only the admirable Beauty, and luxuriant Colours are observable, but also their curious Foldings in the Calix, before their Expansion. Of which Dr. Grew hath these Varieties, viz. The Close-Couch, as in Roses; the Concave-Couch, as in Blattaria flore albo; the Single-Plait, as in Pease-Blossoms; the Double-Plait, as in Blue-Bottles, &c. the Couch and Plait together, as in Marigolds, &c. the Rowl, as in Ladies Bower; the Spire, as in Mallows; and lastly, the Plait and Spire together, as in Convolvulus Doronici folio. L. 1. c. 5. §. 6. and Tab. 54.
As to the Stamina with their Apices, and the Stylus, (called the Attire by Dr. Grew) they are admirable, whether we consider their Colours, or their Make, especially their Use, if it be as Dr. Grew, Mr. Ray, and others imagine, namely, as a Male Sperm, to impregnate and fructify the Seed. Which Opinion is corroborated by the ingenious Observations of Mr. Sam. Morland, in Philos. Trans. Nᵒ. 287.
Reliqua usus alimentique gratiâ genuit [Natura] ideoque secula annosque tribuit iis. Flores verò odoresque in diem gignit: magnâ (ut palam est) admonitione hominum, quæ spectatissimè floreant, celerrimè marcescere. Plin. N. H. L. 21. c. 1.
[h] As to the curious and gradual Process of Nature in the Formation of the Seed or Fruit of Vegetables, Cuts being necessary, I shall refer to Dr. Grew, p. 45, and 209, and Malpig. p. 57.
[] Vetus est Empedoclis dogma, Plantarum semina Ova esse, ab iisdem decidua——Inest in eo [Ovo vel Semine] velut in cicatrice, non sola viventis carina, sed cum minimo trunco assurgentes partes, Gemma scilicet, & insignis radicis Conus, &c. Malpig. ib. p. 81. vid. plura in tract. de Seminum veget. p. 14. & passim.
In Malpighi’s Life, a Debate may be seen between him and Seign. Triumphetti, the Provost of the Garden at Rome, whether the whole Plant be actually in the Seed. The Affirmative is maintained by Malpighi, with cogent Arguments; among which, this is one; Non præoccupatâ mente, oculis microscopio armatis, lustret quæso Phaseolorum, seminalem plantulam nondum satam, in quâ folia stabilia, hæcque ampla evidenter observabit; in eâdem pariter gemmam, nodos, seu implantationes varias foliorum caulis deprehendet. Caulem insignem fibris ligneis, & utriculorum seriebus constantem conspicuè attinget. And whereas S. Triumphetti had objected, that vegetatione, metamorphosi, inediâ plantas in alias degenerare, ut exemplo plurium [constat] præcipuè tritici in lolium, & lolii in triticum versi. In answer to this, (which is one of the strongest Arguments against Malpighi’s Assertion) Malpighi replies, Nondum certum est de integritate, & successu experimenti, nam facienti mihi, & amicis, tritici metamorphosis non cessit. Admissa tamen metamorphosi, quoniam hæc neglecta cultura, aut vitio soli, aut aëris contingit——ideo ex morboso & monstruoso affectu non licet inferre permanentem statum à Naturâ intentum. Observo plantas sylvestres culturâ varias reddi, &c. I have more largely taken notice of Malpighi’s Answer, because he therein shews his Opinion about the Transmutation of Vegetables. Vid. Malpig. Vit. p. 67.
So Mr. Lewenhoeck, after his nice Observations of an Orange-Kernel, which he made to germinate in his Pocket, &c. concludes, Thus we see, how small a Particle, no bigger than a course Sand (as the Plant is represented) is increased, &c. A plain Demonstration, that the Plant, and all belonging to it, was actually in the Seed, in the young Plant, its Body, Root, &c. Philos. Trans. Nᵒ. 287. See also Raii Cat. Cant. in Acer maj. from Dr. Highmore. But in all the Seeds which I have viewed, except the Maple, the Plant appears the plainest to the naked Eye, and also very elegant, in the Nux Vomica. Natura non observat magnitudinis proportionem inter semina & plantas ab iisdem ortas, ita ut majus semen majorem semper producat plantam, minus minorem. Sunt enim in genere herbarum non pauca, quarum semina arborum nonnullarum seminibus non dico æqualia sunt, sed multo majora. Sic v.g. Semina Fabæ, &c. semina Ulmi, &c. multis vicibus magnitudine superant. Raii ubi suprà, L. 1. c. 13.
Filicem reliquasque Capillares herbas Semine carere Veteres plerique——prodidere; quos etiam secuti sunt è Recentioribus nonnulli, Dodonæus, &c.——Alii è contrà, Bauhinus, &c. Filices & congeneres spermatophoras esse contendunt: Partim quia Historia Creationis, Genes. ii. 12. &c.——Hanc sententiam verissimam esse——autopsia convincit. Fredericus Cæsius, he saith, was the first that discovered these Seeds with the Help of a Microscope. And since him, Mr. W. C. hath more critically observed them. Among other Things observed by that ingenious Gent. are these, Pixidulæ seu capsulæ semina continentes in plerisque hoc genus plantis perquam exili granulo arenæ vulgaris cinereæ plus duplo minores sunt; imò in nonnullis speciebus vix tertiam quartamve arenulæ partem magnitudine æquant, vesicularum quarundam annulis aut fasciolis vermiformibus obvolutarum speciem exhibentes. Nonnulle ex his vesiculis 100 circiter semina continere deprehendebantur.——adeò eximiâ parvitate ut nudo oculo prorsus essent invisibilia, nec nisi microscopii interventu detegi possent.——Osmunda Regalis, quæ aliis omnibus Filicis speciebus mole——antecellit——vascula seminalia obtinet æquè cum reliquis congeneribus magnitudinis——quorum immensa & visum fugiens parvitas cum magnitudine plantæ collata——adeò nullam gerere proportionem invenietur, ut tantam plantam è tantillo semine produci attentum observatarem meritò in admirationem rapiat. Ray, ibid. L. 3. pag. 132. This W. C. was Mr. Wil. Cole, as he owneth in a Letter I have now in my Hands of his to Mr. Ray, of Octob. 18, 1684.
[k] Vegetantium genus, ut debitam magnitudinem sortiatur, & suæ mortalitatis jacturam sucessivâ prolis eductione reparet, statis temporibus novas promit partes, ut tandem emergentes Uteri, recentes edant Soboles. Emanantes igitur a caule, caudice, ramis, & radicibus novellæ hujusmodi partes, non illico laxatæ extenduntur, sed compendio quodam coagmentatæ intra folii axillam cubantes, non parum subsistunst, Gemmæ appellantur, &c. And then that great Man goes on to shew the admirable various Methods of Nature, in repositing in that little Compass, so large a Part of a Tree or Plant, the curious Structure of the Gems, the admirable Guard afforded them, and the Leaves, Flowers and Seed contained in them, &c. Of which having taken Notice before, I pass over it now, and only refer to our Author Malpighi, and Dr. Grew, in the Places cited in [Note (f) and (g).]
[l] Of Bulbous, and a great many more, probably of the far greater Number of Perennial Roots of Herbs, as Arum, Rape-Crowfoot, &c. it is very observable, that their Root is annually renewed, or repaired out of the Trunk or Stalk it self. That is to say, the Basis of the Stalk continually, and by insensible Degrees descending below the Surface of the Earth, and hiding it self therein, is thus both in Nature, Place and Office, changed into a true Root.——So in Brownwort, the Basis of the Stalk sinking down by Degrees, till it lies under Ground, becomes the upper Part of the Root; and continuing still to sink, the next Year becomes the lower Part: And the next after that, rots away; a new Addition being still yearly made out of the Stalk, as the elder Parts yearly rot away. Grew. ibid. L. 2. pag. 59. ubi plura vid.
[m] How safe and agreeable a Conservatory the Earth is to Vegetables, more than any other, is manifest from their rotting, drying, or being rendred infecund in the Waters, or the Air; but in the Earth their Vigour is long preserved. Thus Seeds particularly, Mr. Ray thinks some, may probably retain their Fecundity for ten Years, and others lose it in five; but, saith he, In terræ gremio latitantia, quamvis tot caloris, frigoris, humoris & siccitatis varietatibus ibidem obnoxia, diutiùs tamen (ut puto) fertilitatem suam tuentur quàm ab hominibus diligentissimè custodita; nam & ego & alii ante me multi observârunt Sinapeos vim magnam enatam in aggeribus fossarum recèns factis inque areis gramineis effossis, ubi post hominum memoriam nulla unquam Sinapeos seges succreverat. Quam tamen non spontè ortam suspicor, sed è seminibus in terra per tot annos resuduis etiam prolificis. Ray. Hist. Pl. L. 1. C. 13.
[n] Plantæ nonnullæ Æschynomenæ Veteribus dictæ, Recentioribus Vivæ, & Sensitivæ, & Mimosæ, haud obscura sensus indicia produnt; siquidem folia earnum manu aut baculo tacta, & paululum compressa, pleno etiam meridie, splendente Sole, illico se contrahunt; in nonnullis etiam speciebus cauliculi teneriores concidunt & velut marcescunt; quod idem ab aëre frigidiore admissa patiuntur. Ray. Hist. Pl. T. 1. L. 18. App. S. 2. c. 2. p. 978.
[o] I have observed that many, if not most Vegetables, do expand their Flowers, Down, &c. in warm, Sun-shiny Weather, and again close them towards Evening, or in Rain, &c. especially at the Beginning of Flowering, when the Seed is young and tender; as is manifest in the Down of Dandelion, and other Downs; and eminently in the Flowers of Pimpernel; the opening and shutting of which, are the Country-Man’s Weather-wiser; whereby Gerard saith, he foretelleth what Weather shall follow the next Day; for saith he, if the Flowers be close shut up, it betokeneth Rain and foul Weather; contrarywise, if they be spread abroad, fair Weather. Ger. Herb. B. 2. c. 183.
Est & alia [arbor in Tylis] similis, foliosior tamen, roseique floris; quem noctu comprimens, aperire incipit Solis exortu, meridie expandit. Incolæ dormiræ eam dicunt. Plin. Nat. Hist. L. 12. c. 11.
[p] So soon as the Seed is ripe, Nature taketh several Methods for its being duly Sown; not only in the opening of the Uterus, but also in the make of the Seed it self. For, First, The Seeds of many Plants, which affect a peculiar Soil or Seat, as of Arum, Poppy, &c. are heavy and small enough, without further Care, to fall directly down into the Ground——But if they are so large and light, as to be expos’d to the Wind, they are often furnish’d with one or more Hooks, to stay them from straying too far from their proper Place——So the Seeds of Avens have one single Hook; those of Agrimony and Goose-grass, many; both the former loving a warm Bank; the latter, an Hedge for its Support. On the contrary, many Seeds are furnish’d with Wings or Feathers; partly with the Help of the Wind to carry them, when ripe, from off the Plant, as of Ash, &c.——and partly to enable them to make their Flight more or less abroad, that so they may not, by falling together, come up too thick; and that if one should miss a good Soil or Bed, another may hit. So the Kernels of Pine have Wings——yet short——whereby they fly not into the Air, but only flutter upon the Ground. But those of Typha, Dandelion, and most of the pappous Kind——have long numerous Feathers, by which they are wafted every Way.——Again, there are Seeds which are scatter’d not by flying abroad, but by being either spirted or flung away. The first of those are Wood sorrel, which having a running Root, Nature sees fit to sow the Seeds at some Distance. The doing of which is effected by a white sturdy Cover, of a tendinous or springy Nature.——This Cover, so soon as it begins to dry, bursts open on one Side, in an instant, and is violently turn’d Inside outward——and so smartly throws off the Seed. The Seeds of Hart’s-tongue, is flung or shot away——by the curious Contrivance of the Seed-case, as in Codded-Asmart, only there the spring moves and curls inward, but here outward, viz. Every Seed-case——is of a spherick Figure, and girded about with a Sturdy Spring.——The Surface of the Spring resembles a fine Screw.——So soon as——this Spring is become stark enough, it suddenly breaks the Case into two Halfs, like two little Cups, and so flings the Seed. Grew. ib. p. 199. and in Tab. 72. all these admirable Artifices are handsomely represented.
Quin si quantitas modica seminum (Filicis Phyiltitidis quoque) à foliis in subjectam charte mundæ——schedam decutiatur, detergatúrve, & deinde in acervum converratur, vesicularum seminalium plurimis unà dissilientibus, & sibi invicem allisis, acervulus variè moveri per partes videbitur, non secus ac si Syronibus aut istiusmodi bestiolis repletus esset——quin si locus tranquillus sit, aura proximè admotâ crepitantium inter rumpendum vasculorum sonitus——percipietur; & si microscopio chartam oculis oberres, semina per eam undique sparsa, & ad notabilem ab acervo distantiam projecta comperies. Ray ibid. p. 132.
The admirable Contrivance of Nature, in this Plant is most plain. For the Seed-Vessels being the best Preserver of the Seed, ’tis there kept from the Injuries of Air and Earth, ’till it be rainy, when it is a proper Time for it to grow, and then it is thrown round the Earth, as Grain by a skilful Sower.——When any Wet touches the End of the Seed Vessels, with a smart Noise and sudden Leap it opens it self, and with a Spring scatters its Seed to a pretty Distance round it, where it grows. Dr. Sloane Voy. to Jamaica, p. 150. of the Gentianella flore cœruleo, &c. or Spirit-Leaf.
The Plants of the Cardamine-Family, and many others, may be added here, whose Cods fly open, and dart out their Seed, upon a small Touch of the Hand. But the most remarkable Instance is in the Cardamine impatiens, cujus Siliquæ (saith Mr. Ray) vel leviter tactæ, actutùm ejaculantur [Semina] imò, quod longè mirabilius videtur, etsi filiquas non tetigeris, si tamen manum velut tacturus proximè admoveas, semina in approprinquantem evibrabunt; quod tum Morisonus se sæpiùs expertum scribit, tum Johnstonus apud Gerardum verum esse affirmat. Hist. Plant. L. 16. c. 20.
Neither is this Provision made only for Land Vegetables, but for such also as grow in the Sea. Of which I shall give an Instance from my before commended Friend Dr. Sloane. As to the Fuci,——their Seed hath been discover’d, (and shew’d me first,) by the Industry of the ingenious Herbarist, Mr. Sam. Doody, who found on many of this Kind, solid Tubercules, or Risings in some Seasons, wherein were lodg’d several round Seeds, as big as Mustard-Seed, which, when ripe, the outward Membrane of the Tubercule breaking, leaveth the seed to float up and down with the Waves. The Seed coming near Stones, or any solid Foundation, by Means of a Mucilage it carries with it, sticks to them, and shoots forth Ligulæ with Branches, and in Time comes to its Perfection and Magnitude. Sloan Voy. Jamaica, p. 50.
But although Mr. Doody had hinted, and conjectur’d at the Thing; yet the first that discover’d the Seeds in Fuci, was the before commended Dr. Tancred Robinson; as may be seen by comparing what Mr. Ray saith in his Synops. Stirp. Brit. p. 6. with his Append. Hist. p. 1849. Besides which Fuci, the Dr. tells me, he observ’d Vessels and Seed in Coralloid Shrubs, as also in several Fungi, not only in the Species of Crepitus Lupi, but also between the Lamellæ of other Species, and in that subterraneous Kind call’d Truffles, whose Seed and Vessels open in the Cortex, at some Seasons he saith, like that of Mallows in Shape.
As to the Crepitus Lupi, I have more than once examin’d their Powder, with those excellent Microscopes of Mr. Wilson’s Make: But the most satisfactory View Mr. Wilson himself gave me; by which I found the Seeds to be so many exceeding small Puff-Balls, with round Heads, and longer than ordinary sharp-pointed Stalks, as if made on purpose to prick easily into the Ground. These Seeds are intermix’d with much dusty Matter, and become hurtful to the Eyes, probably by their sharp Stalks pricking and wounding that tender Organ.
[q] The ancient Naturalists do generally agree, that Misseltoe is propagated by its Seeds carried about by, and passing through the Body of Birds. Thus Theophrastus de Caus. Plant. L. 2. c. 24. τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ σῆς ὀρνίθων, &c. Initium verò à pastu avium:——Quippe Visco detracto confectóque in alveïs, quod frigidissimum est, semen cum excremento purum dimittitur, & factâ mutatione aliquâ in arbore Stercoris causâ pullulat, erumpitque, &c. So also Pliny saith, viz. Omnino autem satum [Viscum] nullo modo nascitur, nec nisi per alvum Avium reddittum, maximè Palumbis ac Turdi. Hæc est natura, ut nisi maturatum in ventre Avium, non proveniat. Plin. N. H. L. 16. c. 44. Whether what Theophrastus and Pliny affirm, be conducive to the better fertilizing the Seeds of Misseltoe, I know not; but that it is not of absolute Necessity, I can affirm upon mine own Experience, having seen the Seeds germinate, even in the Bark of Oak. But although they shot above an Inch, and seem’d to root in the Tree, yet they came to nothing, whether destroy’d by Ants, &c. which I suspected, or whether disagreeing with the Oak, I know not. But I since find the Matter put out of doubt by Mr. Doody, which see in Mr. Ray’s Hist. Plant. App. p. 1918.
Nutmegs are said to be fertiliz’d after the same Manner, as Tavernier saith was confirm’d to him by Persons that lived many Years in those Parts; whose Relation was, The Nutmeg being ripe, several Birds come from the Islands toward the South, and devour it whole, but are forced to throw it up again, before it be digested: And that the Nutmeg, then besmear’d with a viscous Matter, falling to the Ground, takes Root, and produces a Tree, which would never thrive, was it planted. Tavern. of the Commod. of the G. Mogul. And Monsieur Thevenot, in his Travels to the Indies, gives this Account; The Tree is produc’d after this Manner; there is a kind of Birds in the Island, that having pick’d off the green Husk, swallow the Nuts, which having been some Time in their Stomach, they void by the ordinary Way; and they fail not to take rooting in the Place where they fall, and in Time to grow up to a Tree. This Bird is shap’d like a Cuckow, and the Dutch prohibit their Subjects under Pain of Death, to kill any of them. Vid. Sir T. Pope Blunt’s Nat. Hist.
But Mr. Ray gives a somewhat different Account: Hunc fructum [Nucem Moschatam] variæ quidem aves depascuntur, sed maximè Columbæ genus album & parvum, quæ dehiscente nucamento, illectæ suavitate Macis, hunc cum Nuce eripiunt & devorant, nec nisi repletâ ingluvie capacissimâ saginam deserunt. Nostrates ibi mercatores Columbis istis Nut-eaters sive Nucivoris nomen imposuerunt. Quas autem vorant Nuces, post integras per alvum reddunt. Redditæ citiùs deinde germinant utpote præmaceratæ fervore Ventriculi. Arbores inde natæ ceu præcociores, facilè sunt corruptioni obnoxiæ fructumque ferunt cæteris multo viliorem, & hâc causa neglectum incolis contemptumque, prater Macin, quem ad adulterandum meliorem adhibent. Ray H. P. L. 27. c. 4.
[r] Arbores blandioribus fruge succis hominem mitigavere. Ex iis recreans membra Olei liquor, viresque potus Vini: tot denique sapores annui sponte venientes: & mensa depugnetur licet earum causa cum feris, & pasti naufragorum corporibus pisces expetantur, etiamnum tamen secundæ. Mille præterea sunt usus earum, sine quibus vita degi non possit. Arbore sulcamus maria, terrasque admovemus, arbore exædificamus tecta. Plin. N. H. L. 12. c. 1.
[] Plantaram Usus latissime patet, & in omni vita parte occurrit. Sine illis laute, sine illis commode non vivitur, at nec vivitur omnino: Quæcunque ad victum necessaria sunt, quæcunque ad delicias faciunt, e locupletissimo suo penu abunde subministrant. Quanto ex iis mensa innocentior, mundior, salubrior quam ex Animalium cæde & laniena? Homo certe natura Animal carnivorum non est; nullis ad prædam & rapinam armis instructum, non dentibus exertis & serratis, non unguibus aduncis. Manus ad fructus colligendos, dentes ad mandendas comparati. Non legimus ei ante Diluvium carnes ad esum concessas. At non victum tantum nobis suppeditant, sed & Vestitum, & Medicinam & Domicilia aliaque, ædificia, & Navigia, & Supellectilem, & Focum, & Oblectamenta Sensuum Animique: Ex his naribus odoramenta & sussumigiæ parantur. Horum flores inenarrabili colorum & Schematum varietate, & elegantia, oculos exhilarant, suavissima odorum quos expirant fragantia spiritus recreant. Horum fructus gule illecebra mensas secundas instruunt, & languentem appetitum excitant. Taceo virorem amiœnissimum oculis amicum, quem per prata paseua agros, sylvas spatiantibus objiciunt & umbras quas contra æstum & solis ardores præbent. Ray. ib. L. 1. c. 24. p. 46.
[t] All Vegetables of a tall and spreading Growth, seem to have a natural Tendency to a hemispherical Dilation, but generally confine their Spreading within an Angle of 90 gr. as being the most becoming and useful Disposition of its Parts and Branches. Now the shortest Way to give a most graceful and useful filling to that Space of dilating and spreading out, is to proceed in strait Lines, and to dispose of those Lines, in a Variety of Parallels, &c. And to do that in a quadrantal Space, &c. there appears but one way possible, and that is, to form all the Intersections which the Shoots and Branches make, with Angles of 45 gr. only. And I dare appeal to all if it be not in this Manner, almost to a Nicety observ’d by Nature, &c. A visible Argument that the plastic Capacities of Matter are govern’d and dispos’d by an all-wise and infinite Agent, the native Strictnesses and Regularities of them plainly shewing from whose Hand they come. Account of the Origine and Format. of Foss. Shells, &c. Print. Lond. 1705. pag. 38. 41.
[] In Hederâ, sui culi & rami hinc inde claviculos, quasi radiculas emittunt, quæ parietibus, vel occurrentibus arboribus veluti digitis firmantur, & in altum suspenduntur. Hujusmodi radiculæ subrotundæ sunt, & pilis cooperiuntur: & quad mirum est, glutinosum fundunt humorem, seu Terebinthinam, quâ arcte lapidibus nectuntur & agglutinantur.——Non minori industriâ Natura utitur in Vite Canadensi, &c. The admirable and curious Make of whose Tendrels and their Feet, see in the illustrious Author, Malpig. de Capreolis, &c. p. 48.
Claspers are of a compound Nature, between that of a Root and a Trunk. Their Use is sometimes for Support only; as in the Claspers of Vines, Briony, &c. whose Branches being long, slender and fragile, would fall by their own Weight, and that of their Fruit; but these Claspers taking hold of any Thing that is at Hand: Which they do by a natural Circumvolution which they have; (those of Briony have a retrograde Motion about every third Circle, in the Form of a double Clasp; so that if they miss one Way, they may catch the other.) Sometimes the Use of Claspers is also for a Supply, as in the Trunk Roots of Ivy; which being a Plant that mounts very high, and being of a closer and more compact Substance than that of Vines, the Sap would not be sufficiently supply’d to the upper Sprouts, unless these assisted the Mother Root; but these serve also for Support too. Sometimes also they serve for Stabiliment, Propagation and Shade; for the first of these serve the Claspers of Cucumers; for the second, those, or rather the Trunk-Roots of Chamomil; and for all three the Trunk-Roots of Strawberries. Harris Lex. Tech. in verb. Claspers.
[w] Vegetables afford not only Food to Irrationals, but also Physick, if it be true which Aristotle saith, and after him Pliny; which latter in his 8th Book, Chap. 27. specifies divers Plants made use of as Specificks, by divers, both Beasts and Birds: As Dittany by wounded Deer, Celandine by Swallows, to cure the sore Eyes of their Young, &c. And if the Reader hath a Mind to see more Instances of this Nature, (many of them fanciful enough,) he may consult Mersenne in Genes. pag. 933.
[x] See before [Book IV. Chap. 11. Note (b).]
[y] Planta hæc unica [Aloe Americana] inquit Fr. Hernandez, quicquid vitæ esse potest necessarium præstare facilè potest, si esset rebus humanis modus. Tota enim illa lignorum sæpiendorumque agrorum usum præstat, caules tignorum, folia verò tecta regendi imbricum, lancium: eorundem nervuli, & fibra eundem habent usum ad linteamina, calceos, & vestimenta conficienda quem apud nos Linum, Cannabis, Gossipium, &c. E mucronibus siunt clavi, aculei, subula, quibus perforandis auribus, macerandi corporis gratiâ, Indis uti mos erat cùm Dæmonum vacarent cultui; item aciculæ, acus, tribuli militares & rastilla idonea pectendis subtegminibus. Præterea è succo mananti, cujus evulsis germinibus internis foliisve tenerioribus cultis [Yztlinis] in mediam cavitatem, stillat planta, unica ad 50 interdum amphoras (quod dictu est mirabile) Vina, Mel, Acetum ac Saccharum parantur [The Methods of which he tells]. Idem succus menses ciet, alvum lenit, Urinam evocat, Renes & Vesicam emundat. E radice quoque Restes fiunt firmissimæ. Crassiores foliorum partes, truncusque, decocta sub terrâ, edendo sunt apta, sapiuntque Citrea frusta saccharo condita: quin & vulnera recentia mirè conglutinant.——Folia quoque assa & affecto loco imposita convulsionem curant, ac dolores leniunt (præcipuè si succus ipse calens bibatur) quamvis ab Indicâ proficiscantur lue, sensum hebetant, atque torporem inducunt. Radicis succus luem Veneream curat apud Indos ut Dr. Palmer. Ray. ib. L. 21. c. 7. See also Dr. Sloane Voy. to Jamaica, p. 247.
There are also two Sorts of Aloe besides, mentioned by the same Dr. Sloane, one of which is made use of for Fishing-Lines, Bow-Strings, Stockings, and Hammocks. Another hath Leaves that hold Rain-Water, to which Travellers, &c. resort to quench their Thirst, in Scarcity of Wells, or Waters, in those dry Countries. Ibid. p. 249.
[z] For an Instance here, I shall name the Cortex Peruvianus, which Dr. Morton calls Antidotus in levamen crumnarum vitæ humanæ plurimarum divinitus concessa. De Febr. Exer. v. c. 3. In Sanitatem Gentium proculdubio à Deo O. M. conditus. Cujus gratiâ, Arbor vitæ, siqua alia, jure meritò appellari potest. Id. ib. c. 7. Eheu! quot convitiis Herculea & divina hæc Antidotus jactabatur? Ibid.
To this (if we may believe the Ephemer. German. Ann. 12. Obser. 74. and some other Authors) we may add Trifolium paludosum, which is become the Panacea of the German and Northern Nations.
[aa] Pro doloribus quibuscunque sedandis præstantissimi semper usus Opium habetur; quamobrem meritò Nepenthe appellari solet, & remedium verè divinum existit. Et quidem satìs mirari vix possumus, quomodo urgente viscerit aut membri cujuspiam torturâ insigni, & intolerabili cruciatu, pharmacum hoc, incantamenti instar, levamen & ἀναλγησίαν subitam, immò interdum absque somno, aut saltem priùs quàm advenerit, concedit. Porrò adhuc magìs stupendum est, quod donec particulæ Opiaticæ operari, & potentiam suam narcoticam exerere continuant, immò etiam aliquamdiu postquam somnus finitur, summa aleviatio, & indolentia in parte affectâ persisti. Willis, Phar. rat. par. 1. S. 7. c. 1. §. 15.
[bb] Tales Plantarum species in quacunque regione, à Deo creantur quales hominibus & animalibus ibidem natis maximè conveniunt; imò ex plantarum nascentium frequentiâ se fere animadvertere posse quibus morbis [endemiis] quælibet regio subjecta sit, scribit Solenander. Sic apud Danos, Frisios, Hollandos, quibus, Scorbutus frequens, Cochlearia copiose provenit. Ray. H. Pl. L. 16. c. 3.
To this may be added Elsner’s Observations concerning the Virtues of divers Things in his Observations de Vincetoxico Scrophularum remedio. F. Germ. T. 1. Obs. 57.
John Benerovinus, a Physician of Dort, may be here consulted, who wrote a Book on purpose to shew, that every Country hath every Thing serving to its Occasions, and particularly Remedies afforded to all the Distempers it is subjected unto. V. Bener. Ἀυτάρκεια, Batav. sive Introd. ad Medic. indigenam.
[cc] The Description Dr. Sloane gives of the Wild-Pine is, that its Leaves are chanelled fit to catch and convey Water down into their Reservatories, that these Reservatories are so made, as to hold much Water, and close at Top when full, to hinder its Evaporation; that these Plants grow on the Arms of the Trees in the Woods every where [in those Parts] as also on the Barks of their Trunks. And one Contrivance of Nature in this Vegetable, he saith, is very admirable. The Seed hath long and many Threads of Tomentum, not only that it may be carried every where by the Wind——but also that it may by those Threads, when driven through the Boughs, be held fast, and stick to the Arms, and extant Parts of the Barks of Trees. So soon as it sprouts or germinates, although it be on the under Part of a Bough,——its Leaves and Stalk rise perpendicular, or strait up, because if it had any other Position, the Cistern (before-mentioned, by which it is chiefly nourished——) made of the hollow Leaves, could not hold Water, which is necessary for the Nourishment and Life of the Plant——In Scarcity of Water, this Reservatory is necessary and sufficient, not only for the Plant it self, but likewise is very useful to Men, Birds, and all Sorts of Insects, whither they come in Troops, and seldom go away without Refreshment. Id. ib. p. 188. and Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 251, where a Figure is of this notable Plant, as also in Lowthorp’s Abridg. V. 2. p. 669.
The Wild-Pine, so called, &c. hath Leaves that will hold a Pint and a half, or Quart of Rain-Water; And this Water refreshes the Leaves, and nourishes the Root. When we find these Pines, we stick our Knives into the Leaves, just above the Root, and that lets out the Water, which we catch in our Hats, as I have done many Times to my great Relief. Dampier’s Voy. to Campeachy, c. 2. p. 56.
[dd] Navarette tells us of a Tree called the Bejuco, which twines about other Trees, with its End hanging downwards; and that Travellers cut the Nib off it, and presently a Spout of Water runs out from it, as clear as Crystal, enough and to spare for six or eight Men. I drank, saith he, to my Satisfaction of it, found it cool and sweet, and would drink it as often as I found it in my Way. It is a Juice and natural Water. It is the common Relief of the Herds men on the Mountains. When they are thirsty, they lay hold on the Bejuco, and drink their Fill. Collect. of Voy. and Trav. Vol. 1. in the Suppl. to Navarette’s Account of China, p. 355.
The Waterwith of Jamaica hath the same Uses, concerning which, my before-commended Friend, Dr. Sloane, favoured me with this Account from his Original Papers: This Vine growing on dry Hills, in the Woods, where no Water is to be met with, its Trunk, if cut into Pieces two or three Yards long, and held by either End to the Mouth, affords so plentifully a limpid, innocent, and refreshing Water, or Sap, as gives new Life to the droughty Traveller or Hunter. Whence this is very much celebrated by all the Inhabitants of these Islands, as an immediate Gift of Providence to their distressed Condition.
To this we may add what Mr. Ray takes notice of concerning the Birch-Tree. In initiis Veris antequam folia prodiere, vulnerata dulcem succum copiosè effundit, quem siti pressi Pastores in sylvis sæpenumerò potare solent. Nos etiam non semel eo liquore recreati sumus, cùm herbarum gratiâ vastas peragravimus sylvas, inquit Tragus. Raii Cat. Plant. circa. Cantab. in Betula.
