u 



EECREATIYE SCIENCE. 



(Fig 15), or your water-cress, and you will 

 find the same tking. Be sure you hare got 

 au established fact, and do not forget it. 

 Take your lychnis, a red one, however, 

 an^ you will find ten of these little bodies 

 (Fig. 16) ; but, probably, no central organ. 

 Try to count them in the violet, there are 

 only five ; but you have some difficulty, for 

 they all adhere together, and two of them 

 have little spurs superadded, which might 

 confuse a beginner. These little bodies, 

 which we have just been examining, are 

 called the stamens, but what they are, 

 what is their structure and functions, 

 we must tell in a future page, only remark 

 that, in thejloioers you have examined, their 

 attachment, in the composition of the blos- 

 som, is the same as that of the petals. Put 

 aside the stamens, or pull them off, and we 

 come, at length, to our friend in the centre, 

 whose name we have already let out— the 

 pistil (Figs. 4, 6, 17, 18), and a very varied 



Fig. 17.— Pistil of Lychnis. 

 «, ovary; 6, styles; c, 

 receptacle. 



Fig. 18. — Seed -vessel 

 and pistils of Com- 

 mon Stichwort. 



piece of structure it seems, judging by the 

 specimens. In the poppy it is short, round, 

 and marked or rayed on tlie top ; in the 

 buttercupi it seems made up of a number of 

 projecting pieces ; in the wallflower, it is 

 prolonged ; in the lychnis, rounded and oval, 

 crowned by the thread-like styles. Ob- 

 serve, in all these cases, it rises from a little 

 seat or receptacle, to which are attached the 

 petals and the etamens. You will not, how- 

 ever, have advanced far in your botanical 

 studies before you discover that this single 

 mode of attachment is by no means uni- 



versal ; but one thing you wiU find constant, 

 the relative positions of the organs of the 

 flower, which we have just gone over. Pe- 

 tals, or corolla, as the petals are called 

 collectively, stamens and pistils, are al- 

 ways placed in the same order, one within 

 the other. They may not all be present ; in 

 some blossoms they are never all present 

 together, but you will never find stamens out- 

 side the petals, or pistil outside the stamens. 

 Spencer Thomson, M.D. 



{To he continued.) 



TAME FISHES. 



Peocithe a twenty-inch bell-glass ; set it on a 

 stand in a north window ; lay down a bed of 

 pebbles; plant a few tufts of water- weed 

 (Anacharis), and fill with river water. After 

 it has stood a few days, procure three small 

 Prussian carp and six minnows. Have no 

 gold-fish, no molluscs, and no roekwork. Al- 

 low the conferva to grow on the glass, except 

 on the side next the room, which keep clean. 

 Every morning and evening feed the 

 fishes with very small earthworms, gentles, 

 or small caterpillars, and be careful to drop 

 them in only one or two at a time, so that 

 none be left to foul the water. Frequently 

 sit beside the vessel, and watch the gambols 

 of your pets ; now and then tap on the front 

 of the glass with your finger-nail, and so 

 accustom them to your presence. By degrees 

 they will get bold and playful; be sure to 

 tap with your finger-nail before you feed 

 them, and instead of dropping the food in 

 for them to take it in their own way, hold 

 a worm between your fingers at the surface, 

 and one of the boldest of the minnows will 

 snatch it away playfully. Persevere, and 

 you may .call them together by tapping on. 

 the glass, and have them feed from your 

 fingers, and even submit to be tickled on 

 the back in quiet enjoyment of your friend^ 

 ship and familiarity. H. 



