PHENOMENA. 31 



stalk, but in the latter case, they never assume a leaf- 

 like appearance,* 



The embryo, to which these parts are merely ac- 

 cessory, consists of two portions, one named the ros- 

 tel and becoming the root, while the other, termed 

 plumelet, ascends above the surface, to form the stem 

 and the herbage. 



If we observe the order of these changes it will be 

 found that the seed first swells from the absorption of 

 moisture ; its coats burst and decay, the rostel being 

 enlarged by the sustenance which it receives from the 

 lobes, descends and becomes attached to the ground ; 

 after which the cotyledons are elevated above the sur- 

 face, and at last the plumelet appears emanating from 

 the base of the seminal leaves. 



But a better idea of these successive changes may 

 be derived from the following examples, the former 

 being seeds with two cotyledons and the latier with 

 one which remained beneath the earth's surface. 



At a season favourable to vegetation, Malpighi plant- 

 ed some seeds of the Gourd, and the following were his 

 observations respecting the developement of the young 

 plants. 



At the end of the first day, the seeds were consider 

 ably enlarged — their coats were moist — a small orifice 

 was discernible at their summit, through which the 

 fluids seemed to have been absorbed, and the cotyle- 

 dons, had already begun to assume the appearance of 

 seminal leaves. At the end of the second day, the em- 



* Wildenow describes three kinds of germination peculiar to 

 perfect plants ; in the first the cotyledons, usually two in 

 number, are converted into seminal leaves as in radish ; in the 

 second they remain beneath the surface as in lilies and grasses ; 

 and in the third, they are elevated on a young stalk, having the 

 plumelet at their side as in some species of rush gra«9. 



