gg OF THE COTYLEDONS. 



on the germination of the Orchis trihe. We 

 reserve more particular remarks on this sub- 

 ject till we examine the structure of seeds. 



Some plants are reckoned by Linnaeus to 

 have many cotyledons, as the Fir and Cy- 

 press. But the germination of these differs 

 in no respect from that of the generality of 

 dicotyledones. Mr. Lambert, in his splendid 

 history of the genus Finns, has illustrated 

 this peculiarity of structure in the Swiss 

 P. Cembra; see our tab. I- fig* 2. In the 

 Dombeya, or Norfolk Island Pine, the cotyle- 

 dons are very distinctly four : see Jig. 3. 



The preservation of the vital principle in 

 seeds is one of those wonders of Nature which 

 pass unregarded, from being every day under 

 our notice. Some lose their vegetative power 

 by being kept out of the ground ever so little 

 a while after they are ripe, and in order to 

 succeed must sow themselves in their own 

 way, and at their own time. Others may 

 be sent round the world through every vicis- 

 situde of climate, or buried for ages deep in 

 the ground, till favourable circumstances 

 cause them to vegetate. Great degrees of 

 heat, short of boiling, do not impair the ve- 

 2 



