«;TATF. TTORTrrui.TURAT. SOCIETY. 179 



mechanical, as much so as the folding of the fans of a windmill, or the 

 tin cap on the top of a chimney. In the poppy and many similar flow- 

 ers, the head, while it is growing, hangs down, a rigid curvature in the 

 upper part of the stem giving it that position, and in that position it is 

 impenetrable by rain or moisture. 



When the head has acquired its size and is ready to open, the stalk 

 erects itself for the purpose of presenting the flower and instruments 

 of fertilization to the genial influence of the sun's rays. This is a curi- 

 ous property provided for the constitution of the plant, for if the stem 

 be only bent by the weight of the head, how comes it to straighten itself 

 when it is the heaviest. These instances show the attention of Nature 

 to this principal object, viz : the safety and maturation of the parts up- 

 on which the seed depends. 



In trees, especially in those which are natives of the colder climates, 

 this point is taken up earlier. Many trees produce the embryos of their 

 leaves and flowers in ope year and mature them the year following. There 

 is a winter also to be got over. Now what we are to remark is how na- 

 ture has prepared for the trials and severities of that season. These tender 

 embryos arc in the first place wrapped up with a compactness no art 

 can imitate, in which state they compose what we call the bud. The 

 bud itself is inclosed in scales, the remains of past leaves or the rudi- 

 ments of future ones. In the coldest climates a third preservative is 

 added by the bud having a coat of gum or resin which being congealed 

 resists moisture and frosts. 



On the approach of warm weather this gum is softened and ceases 

 fo be a hindrance to the expansion of leaves and flowers. 



The seeds themselves are packed in capsules or in vessels composed 

 of coats which, compared with the rest of the flowers, are strong and 

 tough. From this vessel projects a tube, through which the fertilizing 

 properties that issue from it, are admitted to the seed. Here occurs a 

 mechanical variety, accommodated to the different circumstances under 

 which the same purpose is to be accomplished. In flowers which are 

 erect, the pistil is shorter than the stamina, and the pollen shed from the 

 anthera into the cups of the flower is caught in its descent, on the head 

 of the pistil called stigma. 



In flowers that hang suspended, (the crown-imiterial, etc.,) this ar- 

 rangement is reversed, the f)istil being usually the longest and its pro- 

 truding summit receives the pollen as it iirops towards the ground. 



rile seed vessels assume an incalculable variety of forms in differ- 

 ent i)lants, all evidently ( onducing to the same end namely, the securitv 

 of the seed. Of the gourd, melons, etc., the seed vessels assume an im- 

 mense bulk ; in stone fruits and nuts, the seed is incased in a strong shell, 

 the shell itself incased in a pulp oi husk ; m numerous kinds of berries, in 

 grapes, oranges etc., the seed is enclosed in a glutinous syrup contained 

 within a skin or bladder ; in apples, pears, etc., it is imbedded in the 

 heart of a firm, fleshy substance, or. as in strawberries, pricked into the 

 surface of a soft pulp. These and many more varieties exist in what we 



