GEN 



fimplex, no apices-, and taking notice that this was hot 

 only in one, but in all the flowers upon the fame plant, 

 he imagined itmio;ht be a new fpecies; and therefore 

 marked the plant, and took care to have it preierved 

 till the feeds were ripe-, and then, they being full,_ 

 hard, and firm, and to outward appearance full ot 

 germ, he fowed them in a proper place in the garden 

 the next feafon, but not a plant fprung up from thcni. 

 Thefe and other inftances, fet tlie opinion of the dif- 

 ferent fexes of plants upon another footing than has 

 been received by mod of our modern authors *, for it 

 import^' that it is not the nourifhment of the grofs 

 fubftance of the feed itfelf which is hereby meant, nor 

 the increafe of the fecd;vefrel, which is thereby de- 

 finned -, for (as is already obferved) a hen can lay an 

 eo-o-, without having before had congrefs with a cock; 

 and this, when newly laid, Ihall be of the fame big- 

 nefs, colour, tafte, and fmell, with another egg which 

 has been cocked (as they call it •,) i. e. which has been 

 fecundated by the mafculine feminal materies : but 

 the difference will appear, when both are put under 

 tlie hen, in order to be hatched i for the one fnall pul- 

 lulate or chit, and the other il^all become fetid and 



tOU ■ ■ r . 



* - 



i t 





■ > 



The cafe is juft the fame with the feed of a plant, it 

 may be augmented and increafedin its bulk ; it may 

 become firm, hard, and folid, and have all the tokens 

 of a perfeft ripenefs ; the feed-vefiels maybe enlarged, 

 and the pulp or parenchyma of the fruit may be aug- 

 mented ; and yet the particles of the feed may remain 

 crude, indigefted, and incapable to be explicated and 

 dilated, or fet in a fuitable motion, whereby to pro- 

 trude the fibrilla of the root at one end, and the fe- 

 minal leaves at the others except it has before re- 

 ceived fome extraneous matter, or fonie active particles 

 from the male parts pf the flower, " or from the male 

 flower ftlelf ^' ;/ ^■:\y:\^ v.:^ -i'^'^' ,. ^'.^^ ■> ^ 

 In order to confirm the neceffity of two fexes of plants, 

 as well as in animals, this familiar confideration may 

 be added r that the fertility or barrenhefs of any tree, 

 in the more or lefs fruitful feafons, may be known to 

 ignorant or lefs curious perfons, by the quantity of 

 the flowers which appear in the fpring tim.e ; and that 

 not only in trees alone, where the flower and fruit are 

 tipon one and the fame foot-ftalk, but alfo in fuch 

 trees, where the flowers are upon diftinft trees, or fe- 

 parate places upon the fame tree ; for it is eafy to 

 determine by* the catKihs'.or iuli upon the Walnut, 

 Filbert, or Hazle-trees, whether fuch or fuch trees 

 will be fertile or barren for the cnfuing ic'dfoUy before 

 any of the embryos begin to break, be pulhed forth, 

 or appear. 



Having already treated of the male and female parts 

 of flowers, we Ihall next confider their ule. ■ 

 Flowers, in this refpeft,- may kptly be divided into 

 that of male flowers,; A\^hich (as has been before ob- 

 ferved) were formerly reptited bai^ren ; an^ the plants 

 which produce them were alfo called, female plants, 

 becaufe thofe perfons not having any notion of dif- 

 ferent kxes in plants," they were called female, upon 

 account of their weajcnefs;; or if they had any thought 

 of fexes. in them, it was only illufive. , " i - 

 The ancients were'lgnorant of thofe which arc now- 

 "a-days called hertfiapKrodite flowers ; and they, not 

 having a true notion of fexes of plants, could not ima- 

 gine that the parts of both fexes fliould be in one 

 flower, upon one and the fame foot-fl:alk. 

 And although hern)aphrodite animals bear the leafl: 

 proportion in the animal, kingdom, yet hermaphro- 

 dites have the greatefl: fliare in the vegetable, though 

 they are not fo numerous as they have been fuppofed 

 to be ; for upon a ftri6t examination it will be found, 

 that a great many more plants have diftinft male and 

 female flowers^ than was formerly believed. 

 The necefllty of different fexes in plants having been 

 demonftrated, and" that the female feed, though it 



except it 

 be impregnated by what it receives from the nul 



fliould ripen to the full, cannot be fertile. 



c 



parts of flowers, we fliall next explain the organs of 

 generation in both fexes. 



5 " 



~nd the ic 



GEN 



In the aniinal ccconomy, t!iere are, 



veffels that arc deftinatcd lor nutation, „., 

 tion ot tnc leveral juices in the body, lperi-natic\'cHPr 

 which confift of prirparantia, defert^ncia, and co^if' 

 nentia fcnicn. l^he ])rrcparantia in malts, arc t' - 

 blood-veflcls and the teitcs; the one conveys t'l^^ 

 blood, and the other ieparatcs the fcmcn from blood 

 and elaborates it. ■ ' ■ * 



So likewifc in plants there are vedels that receive the 

 nutritious particles from the earth, and convey it n 

 the extremity of the, plant; iomc of which tend di 

 "re£tly:to the leaf, and others to the Rowers. 

 Thofe 'which go to the foot-lbJk of the flc\ver ma? 

 hot improperly be called fpermatic-veifcls, for kL 

 from* them that the feminal particles in male, female 

 and hermaphrodite flov/crs are feparatcd ; therefore 

 the foot-fl:alks of the hermaphrodite flowers are pro- 

 portionably larger than thofe either of the male or fe- 

 male •, tliev have a double ofRce, and cojitribute fuc- 



cefllvely to both; 



In thofe where -the calyx becomes the fruit, the 

 ■greateil fupply.is furnifhed to itflrft, and diftributcd 

 in its cortical parts, as is vifible in the Rofe^ in which 

 the foot-ft'alk is fo far enlarged at firft, as to be of an 

 equal bighefs with the bud. ■ .■ 

 After, the caiyx is thus formed, the next diftribution 

 is to the inner or centrical, part. of the flower, whkh 

 >' Dr. Grew calls'. attire, and v/her£ the piftillum becomes 

 the fruit ; the phlillum and itylus, are. formed at the 

 fame time with the ftaniina and apices. - ■ , 

 The ftylus at the very firil: acquires both its duelen^tli 

 and bignefs^ for the nutritious particles afcendin<^iji 

 the center never fl:op till the Itylus is itretched out to 

 its full length; .and in fuch as are furnifl:ed with a 

 peculiar apex," that is formed firfl: i the neck of the 

 Itylus, or that part next to if> is the biggelt; from 



' thence/ ^t'^'gi^dlially 4ei^^^ Ks grofinefs, tilHc 



comes to lhe^pifl:illum. ^ -This is eafUy perceived b/ 

 thole who wlii take the pains to. open tlie bud of a 

 Lily, Tuljp, &c. before the.y are half blown. ;>', 

 The ftamen is .furniihed next wiih- an extraordinary. 

 fupply of the nutritious particles before thefic;ve; is; 

 blown -, thefe, whether fewer or more, are at fiilt 

 brought to their proportional krgenefs, being round 



andjuicy.^ ^ ^ / ' ^ ; . ■ -''^'■' - ■ * 



The apex is the third wliich receives this extraordinary 



fupply of the nourilbment, for after that the ilylus 



is formed, that it may lean to it after the veilels of 



the ftamen and fummit are extended to their full 



trJ- 

 .-V ' 



■ 



length, and fo formed, that they can convey fuch an 

 extraordinary quantity of particles as may fill up the 

 capacity of the apex, it is then more enlarged tbn ' 

 ever after ;' for if the fio\Ver of a Lily he opened be- 

 fore it be blown, the apex will be found to be ftjllas 

 long as the ftamen •, for as the one half of the apex 

 covers the ftamen, fixed to its center, fo the other 

 half of it" is fo far extended above the ftamen, as the 

 ftamen remained uncovered below it, towards the pe- 

 dicle or foot-ftalk. . -\ ■ ■ > 

 The fourth part of a flower is the petala, which re- 

 ceives this extraordinary fupply of ncurifhment be- 

 fore the blowiqg; thefe upon the reverfe, are firft <-*n- 

 larged towarjds. the pedicle, and ^re afterwards ex- 

 tended and ftretched forth in proportion to the en- 

 largement of the attire ; af firft they are .all grofler,^ 

 and more fucculent to.ward:s the origin, apH griiduvtlly 

 become thinner and broader^ Tlie ftaminabx mono- 

 petalous flowers do, for the moft part^ arife partly 

 from the petalon itfelf, and partly from the calyx; 

 efpecially if the ftamina correfpond in nuniber to th 

 petala, as in the Hexapetahe, or Polypetate Liliacefc 

 of Tournefort, wliere every ftanien arifes oppolite to 

 the middle* of the petalon. ■ . •. 

 This obferVation (how and v;hen this more than or- 

 dinary fupply of nourifliment is carried to the flovvCr^} 

 eafily demonftrates wheirin the analogy of tlie organs 

 of generation' in plants and animals confiits. 

 In animals, the feminal matter is received by propel" 

 velTels from the fame bl'^od from whence _die other 

 fecretionsj fit for the brefervation of the aninulceco- 



^ noniy 



t 



rf 



J' 



^ «- 'i 



• - 



