PHYSICAL AND LITERARY. 243 



« plantarum expofuif." As the fame pro- 

 fefTor Heifter ^ teftifies. 



13. In 171 1, Mr GeofFroy prefented 

 the Royal Academy at Paris with " obfer- 

 " vations on the flruaure and ufe of thp 

 " principal parts of flowers;" wherein he 

 attempts to prove, that the duft of the a- 

 pices really impregnates the feed. And, 

 after advancing almoft all that had been 

 faid on this fubjea by Grew, Ray, Came- 

 rariuSjMorland, without mentioning them, 

 he afferts, imo, That, the germ is never 

 to be feen in the feed till the apices fhed 

 their duft. And, 2do, That, if the fla- 

 piina be cut out before the apices open, 

 the feed will either not ripen, or be bar- 

 ren if it ripens: In proof whereof he 

 gives two experiments that he made, one 

 on the mays, by cutting off all the ftami- 

 na before the apices opened ; and the o - 

 ther on the mercurialis, by training up 

 feparately fome of the feed-bearing plants 

 by themfelves. The confequence was, 

 fome of the ears of the mays aborted al- 

 together ; 



f Prcf. p, 70, 



