To relate more examples would fatigue the reader unnecessarily.* 



All Nature proclaims the truth of this doctrine, and every flower of every sortf might be 

 adduced as a witness in its favour. The day would sooner fail me than matter. 



III. Leaving innumerable other proofs behind, from both bisexual and unisexual floxuers^ I 

 hasten to the consideration o^ hybrid, or mule plants, a subject indeed meriting every attention. 



Some have ascribed every thing to \\\^ female, after Harvey. 

 Others again to the male, after Lewenhock. 



As for myself, I ascribe the offspring to both, which the production of mules does confirm. 

 To instance this, there are two different kinds of mules. 



From the mare and male ass proceeds the most useful mule, which in its gentle nature resem- 

 bles its mother; but in its mane and tail, and cross on its back, the ass. This animal, which 

 fetches an high price in Spain, is called Hinnus.+ 



of it, before or about the year 1676, according to the account which Dr. Grew gave, in a lecture read before the Royal Society the gth of 

 November the same year. (See Grew's Works, p. ]6l, 171.) Malpighi no where, that I know of, mentions its use. And Grew him- 

 self, though he allows it necessary for fecundation, yet did not suspect that it entered the germen: but M. Morland, about twenty years 

 after, asserted that it entered the germen through the canal of the style. (See Phil. Trans. No. 287.) I once only saw a small grain in the 

 middle of this canal ; nor is it to be doubted, but that stricter inquiries will discover more of them passing the same way." 



This doctrine by Morland has been refuted by Linn^us, from his observations on the Amaryllis and Marvel of Peru, before recorded. 

 Such as may be curious to see the reasonings upon which Morland founded this opinion, will please to consult our " Philosophy of 

 Botany." 



* The reader will call to mind, that the author of the prize dissertation was required to produce chiefly new facts. The Question was 

 Pro Prremio proposita " Sexum Plantarum argumentis et experimentis novis, prater adhuc jam cognita, vel corroborare, vel impugnare, prse- 

 missa expositione historica et physica omnium Plants partium, quae aliquid ad fecundationem et perfectionem seminis et perfectionem seminis 

 et fructus confeme creduntur." So that the beautiful proofs of the Sexes of Plants, which were before known, he could not properly intro- 

 duce into this dissertation, which will form an apology for the number and length of some of our Notes. The subject is considered more at 

 large in our " Philosophy of Botany." 



f It has always been an interesting subject of enquiry, to all philosophical admirers of the Sexual System, whether the numerous and 

 intricate tribes of plants, which, on account of the obscurity of their fructifications, were all put together by Linngeus into the class called 

 Cryptogamia, were really endowed with flowers and seeds, like other vegetables, or totally destitute of both. Much has been written on 

 the subject of Mosses. Many botanists denied their having any flowers, or sexual organs, as Tournefort, Adanson, and Necker. The 

 last-mentioned author writes in a very singular and decisive style concerning them. " Whatever," says he, " has been, or can in future be 

 said of the sexes and copulation of Mosses, we are determined to consider as a fiction and a dream." LiNNiEus and Dillenius, more philo- 

 sophical than this writer, judged from observation and analogy, that Mosses were neither destitute of flowers or seed; they even thought they 

 had discovered both, but proved to be mistaken. Micheli was the first who observed the real stamina and pistilla in Mosses, but his 

 observations were neglected, and scarcely credited by subsequent authors, till the truly ingenious and accurate Dr. Hedwig, of Leipsic, pub- 

 lished his History of Mosses in i;82, in which he demonstrates the parts of fructification of a large number of Mosses, in so satisfactory a 

 manner, and illustrates the structure and economy of these minute plants so completely, that there cannot be a doubt remaining on the sub- 

 ject. He proves that the capsula of Dillenius, (the anthera of Linn^us) which both those authors considered as producing the impreg- 

 nating pollen, is in fact the fruit, and the powder which it contains, the seed; and that the male flowers are what Linn^us and others took 

 for the female. The celebrated Schreber had before suspected this to be the case. See his Dissertation on the Phascwn. 



" This opinion is now adopted by all scientific botanists; and it has been anxiously wished that Dr. Hedwig would prosecute his enquiries 

 through the other orders of the Cryptogamia. This he has been employed in doing ; and we are happy to communicate, upon the best autho- 

 rity, some account of his discoveries, published in a prize dissertation at Petersburgh, which has not yet reached this kingdom. In this work 

 Dr. Hedwig illustrates the fructification of Filices, Alga, Mufci, and Fungi, in thirty-seven plates. The Eqidsetum is referred by him to 

 the class Tetrandria Monogynia. The anthera, or male organs of the Agaric, he found on the inside of the uolva, which covers the lamella 

 while the fungus is young, and afterwards generally becomes an annulus round the stem. The pistilla are situated in the lamellae. The 

 scutellce of the Lichens, he is persuaded, are capsules of the seed, and that the tubercula of the Lichenes tuherculati have been first scutella; 

 in which opinion every one who has studied this genus of plants will probably agree with him. The cilia of Lichex ciliaris he believes to 

 be roots; probably those of many other species which resemble it are so likewise. His favourite axiom is " Omnis planta ex semine,'^ as that 

 of Harvey was ' Omne animal ex ouo.' " Dr. Smith. 



+ In the Rev. Mr. Townsend's " Journey through Spain," a work replete with useful science and agreeable remarks, and in every part 

 perfectly to be depended upon, speaking of these mules, he entertains us with the following observations. 



*' I prolonged my stay at the Escurial, chiefly for the purpose of being present at the Batida, or royal hunt, of which there are four 

 every year. This was ordered for the 28th of November, previous to the departure of the court. 



" On the day appointed, Mr. Liston had the goodness to place me with the Neapolitan ambassador, who, as representing one of the 

 family, gave a sumptuous repast upon the occasion ; and in his carriage I proceeded to the scene of action. It w^as an extensive plain, with 

 a rising ground commanding it, and, at the distance of about half a mile from this eminence, rose a little wood, in which the king, with his 



p three 



