THE SEEDS. 287 



and enlarged into a Seed-vessel, as in Pi- 

 mis, the Fir. 



In the most perfect examples of this kind 

 of fruit the Seeds are closely sheltered by 

 the scales as by a capsule, of which the 

 Fir, Cypress, &c, are instances. In the 

 Birch and Alder they have a kind of cap- 

 sule besides, and in the Willow and Poplar 

 a stalked bivalve capsule, still more sepa- 

 rate from the scales. The Plane-tree, Pla- 

 tanus, the Liquidambar and the Compto?iia, 

 have globular catkins, in which bristles or 

 tubercles supply the place of scales. See 

 Gccrtner, t, 90. 



. Semina. The Seeds are the sole "end 

 and aim" of all the organs of fructifi- 

 cation. Every other part is, in some man- 

 ner, subservient to the forming, perfect- 

 ing, or dispersing of these. A seed con- 

 sists of several parts, some of which are 

 more essential than others, and of these I 

 shall speak first. 



Embryo, the Embryo, or Germ, is the 

 most essential cf all, to which the rest are 

 wholly subservient, and without which jio 



