THE COROLLA. 20» 



« 



manner to the sun-beams, frequently closing or drooping 

 when they are withdrawn, but it is so peculiarly distin- 

 guished by beauty or brilliancy of colour, that one can- 

 not but think its functions somewhat different from 

 those of the leaves, even with regard to light itself. Dr, 

 Darwin calls the Corolla the lungs of the stamens and 

 pistils, and with great probability, for they abound in 

 air- vessels. (106) But when we consider the elaborate 

 and peculiar secretions of a flower, the elastic and in- 

 flammable polleji, the honey, and the exquisitely volatile 

 perfume, as we know from the curious discoveries of 

 modern chemistry how great a share light has in the pro-, 

 duction of such, we cannot but conclude that the petals 

 must be of primary importance with respect to their 

 secretion by its means. 



Sometimes the Corolla is very short-lived ; sometimes 

 very lasting, even till the fruit is perfected, though most- 

 ly in a faded condition. In double flowers I have ob- 

 served it to be much more durable than in single ones 

 of the same species, as Anemones and Poppies, because, 

 as I conceive, of its not having performed its natural 

 functions, the stamens and pistils of such flowers being 

 obliterated, or changed to petals ; hence the vital princi- 

 ple of their corolla is not so soon exhausted as usual. 

 Phil. Trans, for 178S, p. 165.' 



The Corolla, as already observed, is not essential. 

 Whatever its functions may be, they can be occasionally 



(106) [Flowers uniformly deteriorate the air according to the 

 experiments of Priestley, Ingenhousz, and De Saussure. They 

 consume oxygen, and produce carbonic si^id, both in the sun- 

 shine and in the shade.] 

 CO 



