42 



LINDLEY'S VEGETAn.r. KIN'ODOM. 



and Scoparia in Figfworls, ami Ilyoscyamus in 

 Niphlsliailos, Deli>hinium in Crowfoots, anil Pelar- 

 gonium in ('rancsl)ill9. 



7. The consolidation of the ]iarts of fructification 

 is a circumstance but little attended to in a {general 

 point of view, except in respect to the corolla; but 

 as it seems to inilicalc either the greatest change 

 that the parts can undergo, or where it occurs be- 

 tween important and usually unimj)ortant organs, 

 that in such cases the latter become essential to the 

 former, it probably deserves to be regariled with 

 great attention. For instance, the jiresence or 

 absence of the corolla is often a point of little 

 moment, and is, we know, a very fluctuating cir- 

 cumstance. This is especially true of those Natu- 

 ral Onlers in which the stamens and petals are 

 separated; as in Rose worts, Rhamnads, Onagrads, 

 &c. On the other hand, when the stamens, which 

 are indispensable organs, adhere to the jjctals, the 

 latter are more constantly present, as in Figworts, 

 Acanthads, Nightshades, &c. 



The great superiority of this work on the 

 Vegetable Kingdom, consists not mcrel}' in 

 the great improvements made in the defini- 

 tions of the natural groups, the orders and the 

 alliances of plants. To the botanical read- 

 er, the admirable illustrations, liberally intro- 

 duced upon almost every page of the work, 

 are of the highest value. These consist 

 generally of an example — usually one of the 

 most characteristic — of each natural order; 

 being an engraving, showing the most es- 

 sential parts of the plant entire, accompa- 

 nied also by such portions of the fructifica- 

 tion, the fruit, and the seed, most clearly 

 and beautifully delineated, as enable one 

 to catch, almost at a glance, a correct 

 notion of the structure and peculiarities of 

 each natural group. 



The Vegetable Kingdom is not a work 

 so dry, technical, and scientific, as to be 

 confined to the desk of the botanical stu- 

 dent. It presents a broad and comprehen- 

 sive view of the whole vegetable creation, 

 embracing at the present time more than 

 82,000 species of known plants^ Indeed 

 the volume is replete with all the most in- 

 teresting and remarkable points in the 

 known history of vegetation. 



Every one has noticed the little olive co- 

 lored threads of vegetable substance v/hich 



J are attached to bits of rocks, or even float 

 I upon the surface of still pools of fresh wa- 

 I ter. These are Confervas, apparently one 

 ! of the lowest and least interesting of all 

 , forms of vegetable life. Yet the following 

 ! remarks prove how curious is their physio- 

 ' logical history : 



! If doubts exist as to the vegetable nature of the 

 last order, or of some parts of it, no question arises 

 I as to what that of Confervas is. Its genera are 

 I now admitted on all hands to be plants, since M. 

 ! Decaisne's important discovery of the vegetable 

 ' nature of several things which had been previously 

 regariled as Zoophytes. Nevertheless, it is curious 

 i to see how much, at one perioil at least of their ex- 

 I istence, they have of an animal nature, if the power 

 I of mo\ing from place to |)lacc is to be taken as an 

 ' indication of such quality. It seems incontestable, 

 notwithstanding the denial of Mohl and others, 

 that many of the Conferva tribe, especially of the 

 genera Conferva, Ulva, and their near allies, produce 

 in their tubular threails reproductive bodies, or 

 spores, which, after a time acquire a power of 

 rapid and quasi-voluntary motion while in the 

 inside of their mother; that by degrees, and in con- 

 sequence of their constantly tapping against the soft 

 siile of the cell that holds them, they escape into 

 the water; that when there they swim about ac- 

 tively, just like animalcules; and at last retreating 

 to a shady jilace, attach themselves to a stone or 

 some other body, lose their locomotive quality, 

 and thenceforward germinate and grow like ])lants. 



From the remarks on the properties of 



the Fitngales, we extract a singular account 



of the Toad-stool or Fungi, which the Kam- 



chatkans indulge in as a substitute for 



strong drink. 



This variety of Amanita muscaria is used by the 

 inhabitants of the northeastern parts of Asia in the 

 same manner as wine, brandy, arrack, opium, &c., 

 is by other nations. Such Fungi are found most 

 plentifully about Wischna, Kamchatka, and Wil- 

 kowa Derecona, and are very abundant in some 

 seasons, and scarce in others. They are collected 

 in the hottest months, and hung up by a string in 

 the air to dry; some dry of themselves on the 

 ground, and are said to be far more narcotic than 

 those artificially preserved. Small deep colored 

 specimens, thickly covered with vvarls, are also 

 said to be more powerful than those of a larger 

 size and paler color. The usual mode of taking 

 the Fungus is, to roll it up like a bolus, and swallow 

 it without chewing, which, the Kamchatkadales 

 say, would disorder the stomach. It is sometimes 

 eaten fresh in soups and sauces, and then loses much 

 of its intoxicating property; when stee|)ed in the 

 juice of the berries of Vaccinium uliginosum, its 

 eflccts are those of strong wine. One large, or two 

 small Fungi, are a common dose to produce a plea- 



