BOTANIC MATERIA MEDICA, 253 
SEMINA—SEEDS. 
TECHNICALLY speaking, the seed is the part of 
the fruit which contains the embryo of the fu- 
ture plant, tree or shrub. It is made up of an 
outer coating or hull, termed the spermoderm 
or testa, and an inner onecalled the endopleura 
or tegmen, which is often connected with the 
testa, and is coherent with the kernel. Where 
the stem or stalk is united asin the bean it is 
called the podosperm or funiculus, from the 
Greek, podos, a foot and sperma, a seed. In 
most of the officinal seeds this podosperm is ab- 
sent, and the point of attachment is called the 
eye or hilum; the line running from the eye or 
hilum is termed the raphe, at the junction of 
which we find the inner hilum, which is also 
known as the chalaza. Near the hilum, in 
many of the officinal seeds, we find a small de- 
pression in the testa, marking the location of 
the radicle. Seeds may be further divided in 
monocotyledons and dicotyledons, as for exam- 
ple, the Colchicum, Sabadilla, etc., which have 
