On the Seed of Plants. .407'. 



and fasten themselves at the to]) of the seed; and then alter- 

 nately take in first the ru|uid matter of the atmosphere, then 

 the powder of the root, and that thus the seed is hlkd ; when 

 the flower tlien becomes perfect, the pistil !^hows its juice in its 

 sparkling drop, ready to receive the powder of the stamen which 

 soon falls on it, and the seeds with their corculum become fructi- 

 fied : — Followed up thus, how can the heart be any thing l)Ut 

 what I have named it? If one specimen failed, it would prove the 

 whole false. I therefore once more appeal to common sense, to 

 show that this method of dissecting vegetables is exactly like 

 that allowed to be so perfect in the egg, where it is taken from 

 the moment of diopj)ing from the hen, tlie observation continu- 

 ing till the chicken is hatched, by alternate eggs taken as they 

 advance in their progressive improvement,— thus showing the 

 perfect formation of llie bird in a regular series. I shall perhaps 

 he blamed for this repetition of description, and thus giving in a 

 following course, some of the prints I have before ventured 

 to give singly: but I have met with such contradiction, and been 

 repaid by such unbelief; that though it is a series of dissections 

 of nearly seventeen years standing, constantly corrected l)y yearly 

 observation, and made perfect l)y repeated reviews of the se- 

 veral facts; vet it is treated as if it was the hasty production 

 of a few months, uncorrected by experience and lUisiipported by 

 the observation of others*. I cannot help, therefore, from my 

 real love of science, making a last effort to establish its truth, 

 though I do it at the edge of the grave; and in a situation when 

 I can no longer have any other interest in it but what that re- 

 gard bestows. 1 cannot still but wish the truth may appear, 

 while the eyes (discoverers of the whole) may be able to correct 

 any mistakes which may be noticed in thus reviewing the sub- 

 ject. 



It is said it must be false, because the solar microscope deceives. 

 The solar microscope may show a diversity of lights, but these 

 discoveries have been vindicated by the lowest powers of optics. 

 It is in the common half-guinea microscope that the greatest part 

 of this has been viewed and drawn, with now and then the use of 

 tlic compound. When first I dissected plants, I began by very 

 high povv-ers ; but soon I corrected this error, and commenced 



* I have already nnticpd that in the hearts of the seeds alone, as coming 

 frnm the roots, and forni-.ng the hranches within, I raK bring four of onr 

 first dissectors, who vindicate me in various parts of this seiies of disco- 

 veries. I have already shown that Leuwenhoek and Mr. Baker saw the shoot 

 in the heart of the seed i/c-fore iinpryfrnation; that another gentleman drew 

 the balls or hearts of the seeds when mounting in the albviriuiin vessel; and 

 that they observed v,-ith grorX astonishment, that the seeds were as perteot 

 in a vry young hud as in a larger one,, which seem to look like a previous 

 foiDin.tion. 



c 4 ^y 



