AND AKILLUS. 235 



f. 203, and the double membranous coat in Hip- 

 poph'ds^ t. 425, which last invests the seed within the 

 pulp of the berry. The outer of these coats only is 

 described by Gaertner, as a peculiar membrane lining 

 the cell of the berry ; his " integumenfum duplex^'' re- 

 fers to the testa, which I mention only to prevent mis- 

 apprehension. The Mace which envelops the Nut- 

 meg is a partial Jrillus, beautifully drawn in Geert- 

 ner, t. 41. Narthecium, Engl. Bot. t. 535, has a 

 complete membranous tunic, elongated beyond the 

 seed at each end, as in many of the Orchis tribe ; and 

 such seeds, acquiring thence a light and chaffy ap- 

 pearance, have been denominated scob'iformia, whence 

 Bergius was perhaps led, very unscientifically, to call 

 the seeds of ferns literally scobs or sawdust ! An elas- 

 tic pouch-like Arillus, serving to project the seeds 

 with considerable force, occurs in Oxalis, t. 762 and 

 1726. In the natural order of Rutacece, the same 

 part, shaped also like a pouch lining each cell of the 

 capsule, is very rigid or horny ; see Dictamnus albus^ 

 or Fraxinella ; Gcertn. t. 69, and Boronia, Tracts on 

 jSfat. Hist. t. 4 — 7. Besides this coincidence, there 

 are many common points of affinity between these 

 plants and Oxalis, concerning colour, flavour, habit 

 and structure. Fagonia and its allies form the con- 

 necting link between them, Vhich Gasrtner and Jus- 

 sieu did not overlook. We have pointed out this 

 affinity in English Botany, p. 762, and it is confirmed 

 by the curious circumstance of Jacquin's Oxalis ros- 

 trata, Oxal t. 22, having the very api>endages to its 



