PHYSICAL AND LITERARY. 273 



" fuit, ut genitura illibata ad piftillam 

 ** perv^nirec." Gefnerus * ; But how does 

 it appear that lUch are the confequenccs, 

 of the duft's being wafhed away by rain ? 

 Has too much moiftureno bad efFedls, af- 

 ter the (lamina have fhcd their dufls ? Does 

 it not frequently rot the plants ? &c. 



*' Qalnto pluvits. In omnibus fere 

 *' floribus confpicitur, quomodo, urente 

 ** fole, {ti^e expandant ; vefpertino vero 

 *' tempore, et aere humido, flofculos com- 

 ** plicent, ne aqua pollen antherarum at- 

 *' tingat et coagulet, quo fado, ad ftigmata 

 " efflari nequeat ; at ftigmate, mirum fane ! 

 *• femel fcecundato, nee vefpere, nee plu- 

 ** via ingruente, fefe contrahant flores;" 

 Wahlbom f . But our author knows, that 

 many plants clofe their leaves in the night 

 or in rain ; as the acacits, mimofds^ 8cc. that 

 many open their flowers in the night, and 

 fliut them when the fun is hot ; as fome 

 cerei, ketmise; xyla, lychnis nodliflora, mi- 

 Vo L . I. M iii rabilis 



* Diflert. p. 91. 



•^ Amxn. Acad. i. p. 93. 



