E N 



Vhrrc\^"r t'lcre is a new arrangement, or compofitlon 

 of tbrr elcn-ic-nts, tlicrc i% in reality, a new generation, 

 and tln:s u'--neration is reduced to motion. 

 (JenLTdti'Jn is more immediately underllood of ani- 

 mal and vc'/etabl'j bodies from feed, or the coition 

 of other:i otViirfcrent fcxes, but of the fame genus or 



kiiid. 



Monf Perraiilr, and fome of the m.odern naturalifts 

 after l.im, maintained, l/hat there is not properly any 



that God created all thin^rs at hrii, 



new generation, 



and tluit v/hat is by us called g(^neration, is no more 

 than an au;/m.entation and expanfion of the manure 



• parts of the' body of the feeu ; fo that the \yhGie fr-v- 

 cies, which are afterwards produced, were, in real;:^% 

 all form.ed at the arft, and inclofed therein, to br 

 brought forth and ex;:c.fed to vlcvr in cim.e, arid ac- 

 cordino; to a certain or.':er and oeconomy. 

 And accordingly Dr. Garden fays, It is rrrA proha 

 ble, tliat the ftamina of all the plants and au. nal:; 



. that have been formed, aborigine m:undi, by rhc Ai 

 mighty Creator, within the firft of each rtfpcc^ivc 

 kind ; and he v/ho confiders the nature of viiion, tiiat 

 it does not give us the true magnitude, but only 

 t!ic proportion of things; and that which ieem.s to 

 our naked eye but a point, may truly be made up 

 by as many parts as fcem to be in the whole univerfe., 

 will not think this an abfurd or ImpofTible thing. 

 Dr. Blair, treating of tl:e generation of plants, fays, 

 That v/hen Almiglity God created the world, he fo or- 

 dered anddifpofed of themateries mundi, that every 

 thing p.roduced from.it ibould continue folon^ as the 

 worfd fnould ftand. Not that the lame individual 

 fpecies fliouk! always remain ; for they were, in 

 proccfs of time, to perifh, decay, and return to 'the 

 earth, from whence they came -, but that every like 

 fiiould produce its like, every fpecies fliould produce 

 its own kind, to prevent a final deftru6lion of the 

 fpecies, or the necellin/ of a new creation, in order 

 to continue the fame fpecies upon earth, or in the 



world. ' ■ " ^ 



Yov v/hich end he laid down certain regulations, by 

 which e^ch fpecies v/as to be propagated, preferved, 

 and fupported, til), in order, or courfe of time, they 

 were to be removed hence -, for, without that, thofe 

 very be;ings, which were created at firft, muft have 

 continued tiil the final dilTolution of all things, 

 which Almighty God of his infinite wifdom did not 

 t!iii:k fit. 



But, that he mieht flill the more manifeft his omni- 

 potence, he fct all the engines of his providence to 

 work, by which one erfeft was to produce another by 

 the means of certain laws, or rules laid down for the 

 propagation, maintenance, and fupport of all created 

 beings •, this his divine providence is called nature, 

 nd thefe regulations are called the laws, or rules of 

 nature, by which it ever operates in its ordinary 

 courfe, and whatever exceeds from that is faid to 

 be preternatural, miraculous, or monftrous. 

 Mofes, in his account of the creation, tells us, that 

 plants have their feeds in themfelves, in chefe word 

 And God faid, Let the earth bring forth grafs, the 

 ^ herb yielding feed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit, 

 after his kind, v/hofe feed is in itfelf upon the earth. 

 The antients, indeed, diftinguifhed the generation 

 of animals into two kinds, i. e. into regular, called 

 univocal ; and anamolo'us, called alfo equivocal, or 

 fpontaneous. 



l"hc firft v/as effetfled by parent animals of the fame 

 kind, as that of men, birds, beafts, &c. The fecond 

 , they fuppofed to be effeded by corruption, the fun, 

 &c. as that of infects, frogs, &c. but this latter is now 

 generally exploded. 



Many,- indeed, have ePIiyed to treat of the generation 

 ot iuiimials, but fcv/ have been able to give that fa- 

 tj^iadory account of it tr.at v^/ere to be wifhed for, and 

 far fewer yet have been able to treat of the generation 

 (■■f plants as it ought to be ^ for that which 





n ■ 



kept 



th'!Ti in the dark, v/as, ' 



Firft, That though there were two d:;Terent fexes in 



unimai^ by wKofe mutual affiftance the fpecies was 



X 



I 



I 





GEN 



propagated, yet there was no fuch thing then known 



in plants. 



Secondly, That tliough it can nov/ be made ap'>car 

 that every animal is produced by univocal generation' 

 i. e. from an egg, and not by corruption, &c. as moft 

 of the antients imagined the inlects v;erc •, yet there 

 are ftiU tiiofe vviio n.aintain, that thofe vvliich they call 

 imperfect: plants, are the product of a certain rotten- 

 nefs in the earth. 



The generation of plant:s 



r. 



ars a clofe analogy to 

 that oX fome animals, efpecia-iy fuch as Wdnt^l'ocal 



XT. 



wh 



otion, as mi:!c!es, and otner immoveable Ihell-fifh 

 hich arc hermaphrodite, and contain both the male 

 ..i female oro-ans of generat.on. 



' i;L- flcAver of a plant is found to be the pudendum 

 or wr-n-ripal organ of generation ; but the ufe of fo 

 I; .!■- ■'.. mcchandm, and fo many parts, has been but 

 :'u\- Known till of late years. 



1 he flower of a Lily confifts of fix petala, or flower- 

 leases, from the bottom of v/hich, in the middle, arifes 

 a kind of tube, called by Tournefort, the piibllum 

 and by Dr. Linnasus the ftyle •, this refts upon the 

 germen, which is the female organ of generation-' 

 round this are placed pretty fine tr.reads, called the 

 ftamina, or filaments •, thefe ftamina arife l;l:ewifc 

 from the bottom of the flo-./er, and terminate at the 

 top in little fummits, called by fome apices, r/hich 

 are replete with a fine duft, called farina i thefe are 

 the male organs of plants. 



This is the general ftruclure of the ficwers of plants, 

 although they are infinh;: ways diverfified, and to fuch 

 a degree, that fome have no fiuifible piftil, and others 

 want the ftamina; others again have the ftamina, but 



want the apices, and fom.e plants exceed ail others in 

 this, that they have no vifible tiov/ers j but if it be al- 

 lowed, that this before-iTjentioned is the mofl: common 

 ftrufture of flowers, it will follow, that thefe parts 

 that feem wanting are ufually only lefs apparent, or 

 are fituatcd in diftercnt plants, or in different parts of 

 the fame plant. 



The frvi*- is ufually at the bafe of the piftillum, fo 

 that when the piftiliumi falls v/ith the reft of the flower, 

 the fruit appears in the ftead of it •, but oftentimes 

 the piftillum is the fruit itfelf, but frill they have both 

 the fa.ne firuation in the center of the flower, and the 

 petala, or flov/er-leaves, which are difpofed around 

 the little embryo, feem to be defigned only to prepare 

 a fine juice in the fittle veflels, for the fupport of it 

 during the little time that they laft, and it requires; 

 but fome fuppofe the chief ufe of them to be to defend 

 the piftillum, &c. 



The apices of the ftamdna are fmall capful^, or bags, 

 full of a farina, or duft, which falls out when thecap- 

 fula grows ripe, and burfts. 



Monf. Tournefort fuppofed this duft to be only an 

 excrement of the food of the fruit, and the ftamina 

 to be nothing but excretory dufts, which filtrated this 

 ufelefs matter, and thus difcharged the embryo-, but 

 Mr, Morland, Mr. Geoffroy, and others, find nobler 

 ufes for this duft ; on their principle the ftan:iina, with 

 the apices and farina, make the male part oi the 

 plant, and the piftil, the female, 

 Mr, Morland fays. It hath been long ago obfervdj 

 that there is in every particular feed a feminal plant 

 conveniently lodged between the two lobes, which 

 conftitute the bulk of the feed, and are defigned for 

 the firft nourifliment of the tender plant. 

 But the admirable Dr. Grew, to whofe generous in- 

 duftry, and happy fagacity, we are indebted for the 

 beft improvements of this part of knowledge, is tae 

 only author I can find, who hath obfervcd that the 

 farina, or fine powder, which is, at its proper feafon, 

 flied out of thofe thec^, or apices feminiformes [j. e. 

 feed-forming cafes] which grow at the top or tne 

 ftamina, doth fome way perform the office of male 

 fperm. But herein, I think, he falls fhort, in that he 

 fuppofes them only to drop upon the outfide the ute- 

 rus, or vafculum feminale, and to impregnate the in- 

 cluded feed by fome fpirituous emanations, or energe- 



tical imprefs. 



Thar 



t 





A." 



--^. 



