418 THE REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTIONS. 



in contradistinction to those which are Cryptogamous,} the 

 whole of the double apparatus required for reproduction is 

 contained in the flower. One set of organs contains the ru- 

 diment of the seed, enclosed in various envelopes, of which 

 the assemblage constitutes an ovary, and to which is ap- 

 pended a tube, (the pistil ',} terminated by a kind of spon- 

 giole, (the stigma.} The fecundating organs are the sta- 

 mens, which are columns, (or filaments,) placed generally 

 near and parallel to the pistil, and terminated by a glandu- 

 lar organ, (the anther.} This organ, when mature, con- 

 tains, enclosed in a double envelope, a fine powder, (the 

 pollen,} consisting of very minute vesicles, filled with a vis- 

 cous liquor, (the.fovilla,J t in which are seen extremely small 

 granules. Fecundation takes place by a portion of the pol- 

 len being received by the stigma, and conveyed through the 

 tubular pistil to the seed, which it impregnates by impart- 

 ing to it the fluid it contains. 



By far the greater number of plants composing the vege- 

 table kingdom have these two sets of organs contained in 

 the same flower; or at least in flowers belonging to the same 

 individual plant. In the animal kingdom this arrangement 

 is also adopted, but only in a comparatively small number 

 of tribes. In these the ova, in their passage from the ovary, 

 along a canal termed the oviduct, are fecundated by receiving 

 a secretion from another set of organs in the same system, 

 which is conveyed by a duct, opening into the oviduct 

 in some part of its course. In a limited number of plants, 

 composing the class Dioecia, the individuals of the same 

 species are distinguished by their bearing flowers which con- 

 tain only one of the kinds of reproductive apparatus: so that 

 the stamens and the pistils are situated on separate plants: 

 and the impregnation of the ovaries in the latter, can be ef- 

 fected only by the transference of the pollen from the for- 

 mer. A similar separation of offices is established among 

 all the higher classes of the animal kingdom. In most Fishes, 

 and in all Batrachian reptiles, the ova are impregnated 

 after their expulsion from the body: in all other cases their 



