Essays and observations on natural history, anatomy, physiology, psychology, and geology / by John Hunter, being his posthumous papers on those subjects, arranged and revised, with notes ; to which are added the introductory lectures on the Hunterian collection of fossil remains delivered in the theatre of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, March 8th, 10th and 12th, 1855 / by Richard Owen.
- John Hunter
- Date:
- 1861
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Essays and observations on natural history, anatomy, physiology, psychology, and geology / by John Hunter, being his posthumous papers on those subjects, arranged and revised, with notes ; to which are added the introductory lectures on the Hunterian collection of fossil remains delivered in the theatre of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, March 8th, 10th and 12th, 1855 / by Richard Owen. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![They not only retain their colour after death when killed suddenly, but they retain other properties ; for if dried in that state and wetted again, they come back again much more nearly to the fresh plant than those which die gradually or naturally*. Of the Natural Decay of Parts of Vegetables. Vegetables have many of their first-formed parts die while they are forming new parts. Thus, many trees prune themselves, as probably all of the Fir-tribe; but this is more or less according to circum- stances. If a tree stands alone, so as to have a thorough air and light surrounding its lower branches, there will not be that disproportion between the branches and the leading shoot, as if the branches were otherwise circumstanced, and in proportion as the branches are allowed to grow, the leading shoot is more stinted in its growth. This is the reason why in woods, where the trees are growing thick, they run up tall and straight, and have few or no branches below; for the lower they are they become sooner under the influence of shade and confined air, while the upper branches are not yet so long as to meet each other, so as to exclude air and light in a considerable degree. Of the Effect of different Winters on Vegetables.—It appears from observation that a long hard winter does more harm to vegetation than a much severer season of a shorter duration. The January of 1775, when the thermometer was about 10°, 15°, or 20°, did less harm than the spring of 1780, which was late, although the thermometer was seldom lower than 20°. However, it may be remarked that in the winter of 1775 there was a good deal of snow, while in the winter of 1780 there was none. Buds. A plant that continues its shoot for two or more years, has always terminated the preceding year in a bud. Buds are the ovum or the embryo of a shoot or flower. In the bud is contained the whole of the following year's shoot, and when the shoot is fully blown or extended, then it forms another bud or buds. It may be a continued bud, as in the ; or a con- tinued bud with lateral buds surrounding it, as in the Fir or Pine ; or the continued bud may not be formed, but lateral buds only, as in the Lilac. * The mode of making hay might be improved by this principle1. 1 [It is that on which the edible, soft and succulent vegetables are preserved by the process invented by M. Masson, for which a ' Council Medal' was awarded at the Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations in 1851. See Reports of the Juries, 8vo, vol. i. p. 156.]](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21182656_0391.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
