By degrees, about three or four o'clock, it is reabsorbed into the style, and entirely vanishes, 

 until the following day, about ten o'clock, when it again begins to appear, and attains its full 

 perfection about midday ; and afterwards a second time, by a scarce perceptible decrease, it 

 returns whence it originated. 



Now each particle of farina possesses, enclosed by an elastic membrane, a fine aura, 

 which escapes oftentimes with a vehement explosion, when this farina is made to fall on warm 

 water, although so subtile in its nature, as nearly to escape detection by the naked eye. 



Hence it is, if we agitate som.e of the anthers over the stigma of this Amaryllis, so that 

 their contained /<2n;z^/ shall meet this limpid drop, we shall soon see, as I have often experi- 

 enced, the globules of the farina lose their determinate shape, assume irregular broken forms, 

 and the clear fluid on the stigma become clouded and yellow, and even opake streaks may be ob- 

 served running along the style towards the emhryo-seeds. Immediately after this the whole liquid 

 drop on the stigma entirely disappears. 



Another evident example is furnished also by the Mirabilis [Marvel of Peru), whose farina 

 is so very coarse, that each globule nearly exceeds the dimensions of the style itself, along which 

 therefore, only the subtle aura, ov pollen, can pass, leaving behind the reliqui^ of the farina, or 

 membranous covering, in broken fragments on the stigma, as in the former instance.* 



When the plants are in flower the farina falls from the anthers, and is dispersed, just as seeds 

 escape from their plants, the fruit being ripe.f 



At the time of flowering, or what is the same, when the farina is shedding, the stigma ap- 

 pears on the pistillum most vivid, and moistened with dew, certainly at some part of the day. 



The stamina either surround this stigma, or, if the flowers nod, the pistillum, curls upwards, % 

 so that the farina may the more readily fall upon the stigma, upon which it is not only affixed by 

 its dezi^, but in that moisture split, and made to discharge the fructifying aura, or pollen. This 

 mixing with the lymph of the stigma, is then absorbed, and carried down to the emhryo-seeds. 



* Grew had before explained this in the same way as Linn^us, " In discourse hereof with Sir Thomas MiUington, I observed, that 

 it was very credible that the powder, or farina, by falling upon the pistillum did communicate to the seeds a prolific virtue, that they did not 

 enter in gross substance, but only some subtile and vivific effluvia, to which the visible powder is but a vehicle." 



f Some of these have the remarkable property, like the seed-vessel of the noli me tangere (balsam), the wood sorrel, &c. to ejaculate 

 their farina to a distance. The kalmias have their stamina enclosed in nitches of the corolla, and hence the filaments are curled like a bow, 

 so that when the curve is at the utmost, the anthers are liberated from their cells, and the farina spirted over the pistillum. 



The stamina of the Parietaria are also held in such a constrained curved position by the leaves of the calyx, that as soon as the latter 

 become fully expanded, or are by any means removed, the stamina, being very elastic, fly up, and throw their pollen about with great force. 

 I have lately, says Doctor Smith, observed a similar circumstance in the flowers of Medicngofalcuta. In this plant the organs of generation 

 are held in a straight position by the carina of the flower, notwithstanding the strong tendency of the infant germen to assume its proper fal- 

 cated form. At length when the germen becomes stronger, and the carina more open, it obtains its liberty by a sudden spring, in consequence 

 of which the pollen is plentifully scattered about the stigma. The germen may at pleasure be set at liberty by nipping the flower so as gently 

 to open the carina, and the same effect will be produced. 



J This motion of the pistillum in every stage of the flower is beautifully illustrated in our Picturesque Botanical Plate of the Lilium 

 SupERBUM {Superb Lily), one of the Martagore lilies. But in no example does it appear more evident than in the Gloriosa Superba 

 {Superb Lily), where the pistillum bends at right angles in order to approach nearer the anthers. Also in the Spartium Scoparium 

 {Common Broom) the pistillum bends itself spirally, like a French horn, in order to approach nearer to the males. Vide our Account and 

 Plate of the Meadia {American Cowslip). 



Linn^us might have noticed here the contrivances of Nature, where the pistilla rise above the stamina. These may be beautifully 

 observed in our superb plate of the Passiflora Ccerulea {Common Passion-flower), where the three upright stigmata curl downwards 

 till they come into contact with the stamina. The same may be observed in the Nigella {Devil in the Bush), and the Epilobium {Rose- 

 bay fi^i How -herb), &c. , 



FIRST 



