ILLUSTRATIONS OF INDIAN BOTANY. 31 
By the contemplation of such beautiful, though almost imperceptibly minute, arrangements of 
the Divine Artist, we are more surely led to form a just estimate of His infinite power, wisdom, and 
foresight, than even by the contemplation of the boundless vault of heaven, illuminated with the 
light reflected from its thousands of stars; because in the one case, the immeasurable distance 
and magnitude of the objects viewed, are too great for the limited powers of the human mind 
properly to comprehend them, and is but too apt to lead man into the error of under-estimat- 
ing his own importance in the eye of his Creator. The apparent insignificance of the other is 
calculated to produce the very opposite effect, while it is equally suited to display the Creator’s 
unerring wisdom and power, by teaching him, that the same power, that filled the uni- 
verse with thousands of worlds, and made and endowed him with a reflecting mind, equally 
made the humble fumatory, and so nicely adjusted the arrangement of its minute organs, as to 
prevent the loss of even a grain of pollen, thus certainly ensuring its due fecundation, and with 
that, the equally certain preservation of the species. If then, so much care is bestowed on the 
formation and preservation of the most minute objects of the creation, how much more, have 
we not a right to infer, is appropriated to the preservation of the Being, formed in his own 
likeness, gifted with reason, and endowed with an immortal soul ? 
Grocrapaicat Distrisution. The Fumariacee are scarcely known within the tropics : 
their principal range is in the temperate latitudes of the northern hemisphere, several are found 
on the Himalayas, and among them some of the handsomest of the order. Two are found at 
the Cape of Good Hope. 
Properties AND Uses. Some of these plants are prized in more genial climes, as orna- 
ments of the garden, but are generally too tender for this country. Bitter and tonic properties 
are those which predominate in the order. Dr. Ainslie informs us that the Hukims consider 
the species here figured, which he calls F. officinalis, diuretic, and useful in maniacal cases. 
decoction of the recent plant is used in Europe in scorbutic affections, and chronic eruptions, 
and is considered in some countries very efficacious, in restoring the tone of the stomach 
during convalescence from fever. 
EXPLANATION OF PLATE I1.* 
A. 1, Plant of Fumaria parviflora. 2. Detached ‘ C. 1. Flower of. a species of Dielytra—natural size. 
c 
flower—natural size. . Magnified. 3. Partially opened. 4. Stamens and 
3. The same much magnified. 4, The same opened, ovary detached from the corolla. 5. The same, one 
showing the petals, stamens ovary, style, and stigma. half the stamens removed. 6. Ovary cut transversely. 
tamens detached. 6, Ovary, style, and stigma, de- 7. A portion of the ovary opened longitudinally, 
tached. 7. The ovary cut vertically, showing the showing the situation of the ovules. 
ovule, with its lateral attachment—al/ much magnified. OsservaTions.—These drawings having all been 
é it—natural size. made from dried specimens, may not, when compared 
9. The same—magnified. with recent ones be found quite correct, nor so full 
B. Flower of a species Corydalis, similarly analyzed and explanatory as might be wished; the minute- 
—i. Flower natural sz. . Th agnified. 3. ness of the parts, and the delicacy of the structure of 
Opened to show the different parts. 4. Stamens. 5. the flowers of this order, rendering their examination 
ollen. 6. Ovary, style, and stigma. 7. Ovary cut from preserved specimens extremely difficult, 
longitudinally. 
XT.—CRUCIFER A. 
The large assemblage of plants ranged under this order, forming one of the most natural 
families of the vegetable kingdom, have but few representatives within the tropics : scarcely 20 
indigenous species, out of upwards of 1000 belonging to the order, being found within the 
tropical regions of India ; and even these, being principally confined to alpine districts. The 
plants composing this order are for the most part herbaceous, rarely suffruticose, with watery 
juices ; and round, or irregularly angled, stems. . The leaves are simple and entire, or variously 
divided, rarely truly compound. The flowers hermaphrodite, regular, racemose, or rarely 
solitary and axillary. 
