PART I.] PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS. 5 



0U3 contrivances we discover are designed. The 

 germen or ovary {a in fig. 1) is protected by a 

 thick fleshy substance (i), called the receptacle 

 or disk, which serves as a bed or foundation on 

 which the other parts of the flower rest, and 

 which is thence frequently called a thalamus or 

 torus, both words signifying a bed. The ovary 

 itself is hollow, and it is sometimes 

 divided into several cells, each in- 

 closing a number of ovules, which 

 are afterwards to become seeds ; but 

 sometimes there is only one cell, and 

 sometimes only one seed in each cell. 

 The ovary is iuicy and succulent fig-i.-stament 



,,.,¥. n ^^^ Pistil. 



when young, and very dmerent from 

 what it afterwards becomes when the seeds 

 are ripe. Rising from the ovary in most flowers, 

 is a long and slender stalk called the style 

 (c), which supports a kind of head, called the 

 stigma (d). The ovary, the style, and the 

 stigma, constitute what is called the pistil ; but 

 the style is not so essential as the other parts, 

 and indeed it is wanting in many flowers. 

 Sometimes there are many styles, each with 

 a stigma at its summit, forming the pistil; 

 and when this is the case, the ovary will have 

 as many cells as there are stigmas, or each 

 stigma will have a separate ovary to itself. 

 There are generally several stamens in a flower. 



