The plant possesses a distinct set of organs capable of absorbing mineral food dissolved in water, and there are also means whereby oxygen and carbonic acid gas can be inspired and transformed into tissue. The young sprout, being at first incapable of seeking for its food, is dependent on its seed for its supplies, consisting of two distinct substances--nitrogenous or albuminous matter, and oil and starchy matters. These two last might have been classed separately, but it is unnecessary here to draw any distinction between them, for it appears that the oil is, during germination, for the most part converted into starch. The effect of moisture and warmth causes the seed to sprout, throw out a stem and root, but these being but feeble must be supplied with food ready prepared, and it is under the influence of the oxygen which obtains access to the seed that a small portion of the albuminous matters contained in the seed is altered, and the products act as a ferment which attacks the insoluble starch, converting it into a sugar that can pass with the water always present into the small sprout; when there it becomes again insoluble, and adds to the structure of the rapidly increasing seedling. The first part of this change, such as the starch has undergone, is well exemplified in the malting of barley, which, after its removal from the malt-house, contains a large amount of “glucose,” a kind of sugar which is recognized readily by the taste. The transformation of a portion of the albuminous matter into a ferment not only results in the conversion of starch into sugar, but at the same time the remainder of the albuminoids are rendered soluble and without any change in their composition; they can then accompany the glucose during its passage into the seedling. We see then that the seed is a storehouse for the young plant, providing nourishment until it is strong enough to send down roots into the earth, and put out leaves into the air to seek out food for itself. When the plant becomes strong, and is no longer dependent on the seed for its food, the chemical processes which take place are still more wonderful; how some of the new substances are formed, or why the absence of some one ingredient of the soil (generally present in very small quantities) should produce certain well-known results, is still unknown. From the soil and by the roots are derived the mineral matters and the nitrogen; the latter in the form of nitrates, which in the plant are completely changed in character, being no longer a combination of nitric acid with a base, but the base has been separated, and the nitrogen of the acid, combined with sulphur, hydrogen, and oxygen, is deposited in the new form of albumenoid matter, which is insoluble in water; but being insoluble, and deposited in the minute cells of the plant, it would appear impossible that it could migrate from one part to another, and this would be the case if no other substance