which it adheres, or is connected by Parts called Roots, thro' which it receives the Matter of its Nourishment and Increase ; and confifts of Juices and Veffels fenfibly diftinct from each other. The Procefs of Nature in Vegetation is as follows. The Seed being committed to the Earth, and received into her Bofom, the warm Vapours thereof, joined with the Heat of the Sun, perform the Office of Incubation, difpofing the Seed to receive the vivifying Power. Now the Earth every where abounds with Veins and Channels, wherein the Dew and RainWater, impregnated with fertile Salts, glide like the Chyle and Blood in the Veins and Arteries of Animals; and this Moisture meeting with a newly-depofited Seed, is ftrained through the Pores of the outer Rind, on the Infide whereof lie one or two thick feminal Leaves, which confift of a great Number of little Veffels or Bladders, with a Tube, correfpondent to the Navel String in Animals; the Moisture of the Earth, I fay, thus ftrained through the Rind of the Seed, makes a flight Fermentation with the proper Juices contained in it, which fermented Liquor is conveyed, by the aforefaid umbilical Tube, to the Trunk of the little Plant, from thence to the Germ or Bud which is contiguous to it, upon which fucceeds a Vegetation and Increase of the Parts. This, according to the beft Naturalifts, is the Procedure of Nature in the Vegetation of Plants. But the Writers on this Subject, such as Malpighi, Boerhaave, Hales, Miller, and fome others, will inform you farther, whenever you are difpofed to confult them. I will now, according to my Promife, give you the Natural Hiftory of five or fix of the moft remarkable Vegetables, and then proceed to the Confideration of Animal Life. Oak. The OAK is one of the largest and most useful of all Vegetables. It is the ftrongest and most of the durable of all Timber; and will continue firm and found either in Air or Water longer than any other Wood. Hence the great Value of it to Ship-builders, Carpenters, and other Architects. It is produced from the Acorn, a fmall Fruit which it bears, very useful in feeding Hogs, &c. and is faid by Naturalifts to grow three hundred Years. Vine. The VINE is a Plant or Shrub of the reptile Kind, fupporting itfelf by creeping or climbing of the up any thing which ftands near it. It is famous for its Fruit called Grapes, which it produces in Bunches, and from the Juice of which is made that dangerous Liquor, Liquor, Wine. I call it dangerous, because Men very often drink it to the lofs of their Health and Reafon; but temperately used, its Virtues chear the Heart and enliven the Imagination. The best Situation for a Vineyard, is in a dry Soil, on the fide of a Hill, fronting the South; but generally the Climate of England is too cold to bring this Fruit to the Perfection neceflary to afford Wines with any thing like the Flavour of thofe produced in France, Spain, or Italy. The Method of making Wine, is only to tread or fqueeze out the Juice; let it ftand fome time with the Hufks to ferment, and then tun it up in Veffels. There are various Kinds of Wine, which are generally denominated from the Places where the Vines grow; thus Port comes from Portugal, Madeira from the Madeira Islands, and Burgundy and Champaign are the Product of thofe Provinces in France. COFFEE BERRIES are the Fruit of a Tree of C fee. which grows very plentifully in Arabia Felix, and is cultivated alfo in Turkey and fome Parts of the Levant. The Size of thefe Berries is fomething bigger than our largest Peafe, the Flower is like the white Jeffamin Flower, and the Leaf like that of the Bay. The Berries are of a pale Colour, and imported to us as they are gathered from the Tree; but before they can be used to make the Liquor which we call Coffee, they are toafted in Tin Boxes by certain Perfons whofe Bufinefs it is, till they become of a deep brown Colour, and then ground in a Mill to Powder. The Cuftom of drinking Coffee is fcarce of an hundred Years ftanding in England. Some fay Dr. Hervey was the first who ufed it; others, that one Pafqua, a Greek Servant brought into England by Mr. Daniel Edwards a Turkey Merchant in 1652, was the first who introduced it, and opened the firft Coffee-houfe in England. Of Tia. ་ The TEA Tree grows in China, Japan, Siam, and other Parts of the Eaft-Indies. It delights in Valleys and a ftony Soil. That which is imported to us, and of which we make Tea, is only the Leaves; which are gathered by the Natives in March or April, held over the Steam of boiling Water to moisten them, and then laid on Copper Plates, and dried before the Fire, which curls them up in the Manner we fee. Its Seed is ufually fown in Places exposed to the South, and the Tree bears three Years after fown. The Root is fomewhat like that of the Peach Tree; the Leaves are about an Inch and half long, narrow narrow at the Point, and jagged all round; its Flower refembles the wild Rofe, which, when blown, is fucceeded by a Cod not exceeding the Size of a Hazel Nut, containing two or three Seeds, from whence the Plant is propagated. The Tree is faid to be of various Heights, even from one Foot to an hundred. The TOBACco Plant is cultivated in feveral Parts of America, but the greatest Part of what is of lobac ufed in England, is imported from our own Plantations in Virginia. It is propagated from Seed, which is fow'd on pretty good Ground, and for fome time watered every Day. In very hot Weather it is protected from the Fury of the Sun, by Branches of Trees, or other Things thrown over it. When it is rifen to a certain Height, they prepare a Piece of Ground for its Reception, and transplant it, much as we do Lettuce; after which it is carefully weeded, the lower Leaves are broke off, that they may not hang upon the Ground and rot; and when it begins to fhow its Flower, the Heads alío are cut off, that only twelve or fifteen of the principal Leaves receiving all the Nourishment, may grow larger, and of a thicker Subftance. When ripe, the Stalks are cut down and hung up two by two under fome Shed or Shelter from the Sun and Wet, and dry'd by the Air for 15 or 20 Days. When the Leaves are fufficiently dry'd, they are pulled from the Stalks, made up into little Bundles, which being wetted with Sea or common Water, are twisted into Rolls, and in this Manner imported into Europe; where the Tobacconist with an Engine cuts it for Smoaking, or grinds it for Snuff, according to his Occafions. This Plant was first brought into England by Sir Walter Raleigh, in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. The SUGAR Cane is produced in many Parts of the West-Indies, particularly the Caribbee Inlands, of the Suas Barbadoes, Jamaica, Nevis, &c. It ufually gar Cane. grows five or fix Feet high, and is about half an Inch in Diameter. The Stem, or Stock, is divided by Knots a Foot and a half apart. At the Top it puts forth a number of long green Leaves, from the Middle of which arise the Flower and the Seed. When ripe, which is commonly in about ten Months, it is found quite full of a white juicy Pith, from which is expreffed the Liquor whereof Sugar is made. The Procefs of making Sugar is as follows. After the Canes are cut, they are carried in Bundles to the Mills, VOL. II. P which which confift of three wooden Rollers covered with Steel Plates, and are wrought either by Water, or Wind, or Cattle, or Slaves. The Liquor, when the Canes are preffed and broke between the Rollers, runs through a little Canal into the Sugar-Houfe, and is conveyed into a Copper heated by a flow Fire, juft to make it fimmer, where it receives its first Separation. With the Liquor is here mixed a Quantity of Afhes and quick Lime; the Effect of which Mixture, affifted by the Action of Fire, is, that the unctuous Parts are feparated from the reft, and raised to the Top, in form of a thick Scum, which is conftantly taken off with a Skimmer. This done, it is farther purified in a fecond, third, fourth, and fifth Boiler, in which laft it is brought to the Confiftence of a Syrup. Then in a fixth Boiler, the Syrup receives its full Coction, and here all the Impurities left by the former Lees are taken away by a new Lee, and a Water of Lime and Allum is caft into it. In this laft Copper, there is scarce found one Third of what was in the first, the reft being wafted in Scum. By thus paffing a Number of Coppers, the Sugar Juice is purified, thickened, and rendered fit to be converted into any kind of Sugar. of Hemp. HEMP is a Plant of great ufe in the Arts and Manufactures, furnishing Thread, Cloth, Cordage, &c. It is a tall flender Sort of Shrub, and must be fown afresh every Year. Its Stem is hollow, its Leaves are of a roundifh Form, and jagged at the Edges; and its Bark is a tiffue of Fibres, joined by a foft Matter which cafily rots it. The Culture and Management of Hemp makes a confiderable Article in Agriculture, as there are many Operations requifite in manufacturing it. It is fown in May, is ripe in Auguft, and the way of gathering it is to pull it up by the Roots; and tying it up in Bundles, they cut off the Heads in order to preferve the Seed. Then laying the Stalks in Water for five or fix Days to rot, they take it out, dry it, and beat the Hex or woody Part from the Bark, with feveral forts of wooden Beetles: afterwards paffing it through a Heckle, which is a toothed Inftrument refembling a Wool-dreffer's Comb, it becomes fit to fpin into Thread, weave into Cloth, or twist into Cordage, according to its different Fineness. N. B. Flax is very much a-kin to Hemp both in its Form and Culture, only Flax is finer and whiter, and affords the noble Manufacture of Linen Cloth. CHAP. |