58 On the Pullen of FluXiers. 



Tlie pollen, though it appears so small, is lar from being so 

 in Dioecious trees ; and though they seem all Uke balls gathered 

 in a heap, yet when examined by the microscope, they ditter 

 extremely in shape: some are round, some square, some tri- 

 angular, some resemble a thick round cake ; nor are they less 

 various in colour, for though most of them are yellow, yet 

 there are many white, purple, blue, and, red ; biTt most pollen 

 belonging to the same genera have the same form and the same 

 shape, which is an easy way of discovering the class of the 

 flower. If the stamens are taken out, and the pollen is shaken 

 on a dry glass, and a drop of water then allowed to I'all near 

 it, in a moment each ball of pollen (though before so apparently 

 agglutinated) is scattered as if struck with electricity and flies 

 to every part of the glass. They must contain much sul- 

 phureous matter, for they will often burn at the candle ; but 

 they do not melt in hot water, nor even in boiling spirit of 

 wine, which will however sometimes draw from them a faint 

 tint of colour ; but it does not dissolve the po'ver, though the 

 pollen powder is directly melted by the nectarious juice on the 

 pistil. Most probably it is resinous. They have invariably 

 (let their shape differ ever so much) two separate parts ; and 

 two different licjuids. The outward part (as at fig. 5) is formed 

 of a slight cuticle, sometimes crossed, or with circular aper- 

 tures, which show the dark parts within, and which often ex- 

 hibit vessels shooting from the exterior ball, fig. 5 a ax, and 

 ejecting oil ; but when the inner ball bursts, it is discovered to 

 be formed of a cartilaginous matter extremely strong ; but all 

 the apertures proceed from the upper surface alone and eject- 

 ing oil. But when the inner ball explodes, a thin vapour pours 

 from it like undulating smoke, fig. 6 X , and spotted with grains 

 of black. 



Rumphius and Hedwig, another German botanist, who 

 had studied the subject as well as the microscopes then pei-- 

 mitted, differed much : one of them said it was all oil, fig. 7, 

 which proceeded fi om the pollen ball. His antagonist insisted 

 it was a gray liquid studded witli black spots ; they certainly 

 were both right and both wrong; since the mixture of the two 

 opinions really composes the pollen ball, being oil without, and 

 gray matter within. They are formed of such a beautifid 

 matter, and the apertures are so contrived, as to throw a kind 

 of luminous appearance within by means of a shining matter, 

 Vvhich often produces a curious effect when contrasted with the 

 black of the inner box: this adds not a little to those velvet flow- 

 ers, such as the Heart-ease, &c. The curious round ball of the 

 Cucumber and Melon are so remarkable for their beauty, the 

 outward figure is so light and highly fashioned, that it is dil- 

 ficult to describe it; see fig. 8, a a. But 



