THE STUDY OF BOTANY. 23 
fore turn to the Decandria Clafs, and finding the Orders of that 
Clafs founded upon the number of Pistils, we look for it in the 
_ .Order Pentagynia, 5 Pistils being the number we count in the 
Female Flowers. This Order cotitains 7 Genera, the first 
three of which have 5-celled Capsules; but in the Female 
Flower beore us, the Germen cut a-crofs, or the Capsule, if we 
happen to have got a ripe one, appears to have only one cell. 
Cerastium and Spergula are mentioned to have a five-leaved 
Calyx, whilst the flowers before us have a Calyx of one leaf. 
They must therefore be referred either to Agrostemma, or to 
Lychnis. But the difference between these two Genera is not 
very obvious in the artificial characters now before us; we 
therefore turn to the Generic descriptions of Agrostemma and 
Lychnis ; compare all the parts of the flower carefully with 
both these, and find reason to believe it a Lychnis. The Oxs. 
subjoined to that Genus support this conclusion, and amongst 
the species of Lychnis we find the,Lychnis dioica, with the 
Stamens and Pistils on different plants, _ : 
EXAMPLE X. 
PY'RUS. (Pear.) 
Finding about 20 Stamens in each flower, we conclude that 
it belongs either to the 12th, or to the 13th Clafs, ; 
, The introduction to the 12th, or Icosandria Clafs, informs 
us, that the number of Stamens alone, will not sufficiently 
distinguish it from the Clafses, Dodecandria and Polyandria ; 
we therefore attend to the directions there delivered, and 
finding in our Plant that the Calyx is formed of a single concaye 
Leaf; that the Petals are fixed to the sides of the Calyx; and 
that the Stamens do not stand upon the Receptacle, we con- 
clude that we are at the right clafs; and seeing each Flower 
furnished with § Pistils, we look for the Genus under the 
Order Pentagynia. This Order contais.s three Genera, In 
the last Genus the Calyx is fixed beneath the Germen, but in 
our Plant it is above the Germen. In that and in other re- 2 
spects, it corresponds with the two first Genera, The Calyx 
being cloven into 5 parts, and the Blofsom being composed of 
5 Petals, are circumstances common to both. But the fruit 
of the first is a Berry, containing 5 seeds, and the fruit of the 
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