CHAPTER I. 



THE FLOWER. 



In the year 1787, the Rector of Spandau, near Berlin, 

 Kristian Konrad Sprengel, discovered the very im- 

 portant fact that flowers are intended to attract, and 

 probably also please, the eyes of bees, butterflies, and 

 other insects ; that they are also agreeable to our taste 

 is a very interesting, but by no means important 

 consequence. The botanists of that time, however, 

 looked upon the differences between flowers as a stamp 

 collector looks on post marks and punctures, that is, 

 as convenient marks by which to arrange their collec- 

 tions, and they neglected Sprengel's discovery. 



It is necessary to examine a flower of some kind to 

 explain why this discovery is of such importance in 

 the study of Nature. The flowers of the Whin (Gorse, 

 Furze) Ulex Europaeus or any plant allied to it, such as 

 the broom, sweet pea, or laburnum, will enable any one 

 to obtain a preliminary idea of the meaning of flower 

 structure. Pulling the flower to pieces with the aid 

 of a penknife, it is easy to see that there are five 

 different sets of organs. Those on the outside consist 

 of two small bracteoles and two other much larger 

 hairy pieces which meet and cover the young flower. 

 These latter are the " sepals^' and there are in 

 reality five of them, two in the upper lip and 

 three in the lower, but they are so closely united 



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