50 The Seed. [Feb., 



ward, as it develops itself in germination, growtli and maturity, in 

 its parts of root, stem, branches, leaves and fruit ; and these in their 

 relations to light, air, moisture and heat. How beautiful in order, 

 how uniform in manifestation. No wonder it should be taken as 

 emblematic of all proper development — ' the blade, the ear, and the 

 full corn in the ear.' 



The seed includes the embryo of a new plant, with its protective 

 wrappers. There are no naked seeds, strictly so called ; none which 

 are not surrounded by what is called the pericarp. But this peri- 

 carp is sometimes very thin, and adheres so closely to the seed, that 

 it can not easily be distinguished at the ripening of the fruit — blend- 

 ing with it so closely that it can not be separated. Every seed may 

 be said to be the result, or to originate from, a fertilized ovule, and 

 contains within it an organized body, which, placed in favorable cir- 

 cumstances, is developed into an individual similar to that from which 

 it derives its origin. This embryo is the essential part of the seed, 

 The seed consists of two parts, the episperm or outward integument, 

 and the kernel within. A peculiar substance called albumen, is fre- 

 quently formed around the embryo, the object of which is to sup- 

 ply the embryo with food at the time of germination. This albumen 

 varies greatly in nature, consisting of starchy cells as in the grains; 

 fleshy, as in the cocoa-nut, and horny as in the coffee. Chemically, 

 this albumen is composed of oily matter, starch, and nitrogenized 

 compounds. The embryo consists of cotyledons, or rudimentary 

 leaves, the plumule, which represents the ascending axis, and the rad- 

 icle or descending axis, and the point of union of the two. 



The embryo varies in its structure in diifercnt divisions of the 

 vegetable kingdom; thus, in acrogens and thallogens, it contains a 

 cell or spore, with granular matter in the interior, without cotyle- 

 dons. In endogens and exogens, there is a distinct separation of 

 parts in the embryo, the former having one cotyledon, the latter, two. 



The first part formed in the embryo, is the axis, having one of 

 its extremities turned to the point whence the radicle proceeds, the 

 other in the direction of the stem. At the point where the cotyle- 

 dons are united to the axis, a bud is developed ; this contains the 

 true primordial leaves of the plant, and is known as the gemmnle 

 or plumule. In germination, the cotyledons sometimes remain con- 

 cealed under ground, not appearing at the surface; at other times 

 they emerge from the ground, in consequence of the elongation of 

 the neck, which separates them from the radicle. The embryo being 



