XIII. THE SEED AND HUSK. 221 



us of what, if any, nutritious or fostering use the rind 

 is to a chestnut, or an orange's pulp to its pips, or a 

 peach's juice to its stone. 



4. Patting aside this deeper question for the moment, 

 let us make sure we understand well, and define safely, 

 the separate parts themselves. A seed consists essential- 

 ly of a store, or sack, containing substance to nourish a 

 germ of life, which is surrounded by such substance, 

 and in the process of growth is first fed by it. The 

 germ of life itself rises into two portions, and not more 

 than two, in the seeds of two- leaved plants ; but this 

 symmetrical dualism must not be allowed to confuse the 

 student's conception, of the three organically separate 

 parts, the tough skin of a bean, for instance ; the softer 

 contents of it which we boil to eat ; and the small germ 

 from which the root springs when it is sown. A bean 

 is the best type of the whole structure. An almond out 

 of its shell, a peach-kernel, and an apple-pip are also 

 clear and perfect, though varied types. 



5. The husk, or seed-vessel, is seen in perfect sim- 

 plicity of type in the pod of a bean, or the globe of a 

 poppy. There are, I believe, flowers in which it is ab- 

 sent or imperfect ; and when it contains only one seed, 

 it may be so small and closely united with the seed it 

 contains, that both will be naturally thought of as one 

 thing only. Thus, in a dandelion, the little brown 

 grains, which may be blown away, each with its silken 

 parachute, are every one of them a complete husk and 



