But none better than VAILLANT, t the great French botanist, who, in his academic 



" From a repeated number of experiments, in separating the male from the female plants, I have always observed, that where it has been 

 done in time, and with proper care, so as that there could have been none of the farina fcBcundans of the male plant scattered on the female; 

 that though the female plants have produced sometimes fair seeds to appearance, yet, when they have been carefully sown, there has not 

 been one plant produced from them. 



+ The honour of the discovery of the Sexes in Plants is always torn from our countrymen, and given by the French to Vail- 

 LANT. In that famous Poem, " published in VaiUant's " Botanicon Parisiense" " De Connubiis Floriim," the poet gives this honour to 

 Vaillant. 



'' Callibus insistat veterum pede turba sequaci, 

 Vulgaresque animee, servum genus ; at sibi stravit 

 Intactum Valiantits iter. Qua callidus arte 

 Dirigat in flores etiam sua tela Cupido 

 Yidit, et herbarum detexit primus a mores. 



Macencroe, M. D." 



There are also other pieces of poetry which preface this work to the same effect : 



" Omnibus in terris qucesitum ad Florea regna, 

 Et nemo in terris inveniebat iter; 

 At nunc si patuit, si flos hie masculus, ille, 

 Famineus, vel mas fcEmineusque simul; 

 Arma viri melius si stamina credimus esse 



Pistillum melius conjugis esse tubam. 

 Nee latet, inque tubas inque ova ut fulguris instar 



Mane ferax rigidi staminis aura ruat ; 

 Audiat Elysiis h^c Tourkefortus in arvis. 

 Inventum decus est hoc Valiante tuum. 



Demetrius de la Croix, M. D." 



Another, 



" L'ingenieux Vaillant grand partizan de Flore, 



Epia la Nature, et la prit sur le fait ; 



Par un souffle subtil it vit les fleurs eclore, 



Et de leur tendre amour le mystere secret. 



Louis Badon de la Riviere." 



m 



And, in order to fix this honour more permanently on Yaillant, under his portrait is engraved, 



" Hie -primus ante alios Florum Connuhia vidit." 



We do not mean to deny the knowledge Yaillant had of this subject, for he has presented us, in his discourse " De Structura Florum, 

 horum Differentia, Usuque Partium," " On the structure of Flowers, their Yariety, and the Uses of the component Parts," published in 1/18, 

 with a very florid description of the Marriage of Plants, and his particular observations on the Parietaria {Pellitory of the Wall), of which, 

 for the sake of the curious and inquisitive reader, we shall make a short extract. 



" Quoties autem accideret, ut in eadem stirpe flores gerantur simul, quorum hi foeminina tantum, illi autem masculina et foeminina con- 

 juncta, organa cingunt, arrectio, tumorque organorum masculinorum in hisce tam subito contingit, ut lobuli gemmas flosculosas cedant illoruni 

 impetui, atque hinc inde semet expandant mirabili mehercule velocitate. Etenim eodem hocce momento libidinosa haec ingenia nihil ardentius 

 cogitant, nisi ut violentos luxuriei afFectus expleant, neque citius libera se et expedita experiuntur, quin extemplo quam vehementissime foe- 

 cundam explodant, omnemque uno impetu ejaculentur, genituram, diffusa nimirum pulverulenta nubecula spargente quaquaversum foecunda- 

 tionem arvi genitalis. Ycriam, quam rara, quam mira, catastrophe ! ipso hoc foecundandi ardore adeo semet exhausta dolent, ut ipso, quo 

 prolem vitam donant, momento sibimet mortem parant prresentissimam ! 



" Neque vel hie tamen Scena clauditur. Quid ergo ? Yix venereus hie lusus absolutus est, quin ilico florum labia, aut lobuli, ad se invi- 

 cem accedant eodem quidem, quo a se mutuo recesserant, celeritatis impetu, veteremque ita formam statim renovent. Ita quidem, ut difflcil- 

 limum foret credere, flores hosce uUam vim passos esse, nisi vel ipse actum hunc vidisset oculus, vel adhuc cerneret caduca sceleta magnani- 

 morum heroum, qui banc pugnaverant pugnam ; clara quippe haec gestae fortiter rei monumenta supersunt aliquamdiu erecta in campo conflic- 

 tus, aut Aplustrium instar Jacularios experiuntur lusus volitantis Zephyri. 



Apparatum huncce artificiosum facile spectare datur in Parietaria. Sed accedas oportet hora sacra Yeneri ! Aurora est, quae favet et 

 adspirat diversorum in plantis sexuum voluptatibus, congressibusque ; ubi vero agere forte renuunt satis opportune ex voto Tui observantis 

 cogere vel sic poteris, aciculae apice leniter modo stimules. Si enim matura jam hisce astas lusibus, opus tantum erit quam blandissime unum 

 elevare lobulorum, statimque spectaculo quam jucundissimo oblectaberis ; fllamenta quippe, vel manubria staminum ex arcuato hactenus incur- 

 voque flexu in erectum arriguntur situm, ut vi acta violenta; tumque liquido spectatur singulare quodque et tectum, quod in exercitio hocce 

 peragitur venereo. Yaillant Sermo de Florum Structura, p. 9." A property not less extraordinary has been discovered in other plants. 



The learned Founder and President of the Linnaean Society, London, Dr. Smith, read a paper " On the Irritability in the Stamina of 

 the Barberry, &c/' before the Royal Society, Feb. 14, 1788. 



" The stamina of such of the flowers of the Barberry [Barberis Communis) as were open were bent backwards to each petal, and 

 sheltered themselves under their concave tips. No shaking of the branch appeared to have any effect upon them. With a very small bit of 



» This very interesting Poem, containing o25 lines, was written by Dr. Grant, an Irish student at Paris, under a masked name. It has been since published alone by 

 White, edited by Sir Richard Clayton, Bart. 



stick 



