1854.] Linnean Society. 337 



small cicatrix is observed at the opposite extremity of the testa, at a 

 point near its attachment to the arillus and placenta, which must be 

 considered as the micropyle. The distinct aperture in the summit 

 of the testa through which the nourishing vessels of the raphe reach 

 the chalaza, is called by the author the diapyle, in contradistinction 

 to the micropyle observed at the opposite extremity of the testa. 

 The diapyle, in this and many other families, forms a distinct aper- 

 ture filled with soft fungous matter ; in other cases it is less dis- 

 cernible, being closed by the osseous deposits of the testa, and is 

 only recognizable as the point where the extremity of the raphe 

 becomes lost in its substance. The existence of the diapyle in con- 

 nexion with the raphe and chalaza of the inner integument consti- 

 tutes an important feature in this inquiry. The nipple- shaped pro- 

 tuberance in the summit of the nucleus, hitherto taken to be the 

 radicle, appears beyond doubt (as first shown by Richard) to be 

 the two cotyledons of the embryo, which though small and short, 

 are nevertheless quite distinct ; and their relative position is indicated 

 by the cleft being placed right and left of the axis, or with their 

 commissure pointing to the raphe : the main body of the nucleus, 

 instead of being confluent cotyledons, as hitherto supposed, must be 

 a gigantic radicle, in the axis of which is imbedded the caulicle of 

 the embryo (or rather what, for reasons given in the paper, Mr. Miers 

 distinguishes as the neorhiza), shown in the opake central line 

 before mentioned, terminated at its base by the shining speck seen 

 in the base, and at its apex by the plumule, which is seen protruding 

 as a minute point into the space at the bottom of thecotyledonary cleft. 

 The minute external speck seen near the base is considered by the 

 author to be the germinating point of the neorhiza ; it is always more 

 or less prominent, of a green colour in the living state, and does not 

 correspond exactly with the micropyle of the testa, but is always 

 somewhat lateral in respect to it, and nearer the basal origin of the 

 raphe. 



The above analysis affords a good example of the general structure 

 of the seed in the tribe Clusiece, where a number of seeds are formed 

 in each cell of the ovary, and where they are attached in a hori- 

 zontal position by their base to the axile placentary column ; but in 

 the other tribes (TovomitecB and Garciniece), where only one seed 

 is formed in each cell, and where this is fixed to the axile column in 

 a vertical position by its ventral face, a somewhat different structure 

 exists ; and were it not for the explanation affbrded by the former 

 case, the structure of the embryo in the two latter instances would 

 not be so easily understood. In the Clusiecs, the raphe enclosed 



