98 OP THE COTYLEDONS. 



on tlie o-ermination of the Orchis tribe. 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 

 dlcotyledones. Mr. Lambert, in his splendid 

 history of the genus FijiuSy has illustrated 

 this peculiarity of structure in the Swiss 

 F. Cembra; see our fab. 1, fig- 2. In the 

 Dombejfa, or Norfolk Island Pine, the cotjde- 

 dons are very distinctly four : see fig. 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 ^vhile 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 ever}'^ 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 vc- 



