EDMUND RUFFIN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 



ANALOGY OF THE GENERATION AND REPRO- 

 DUCTION OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS. 



To the Editor of the Farmers' Register. 



I send you the Ibllovvinar (acts. The first eiirht 

 numbers are fQom Mr. Geoffroy, arui all the others 

 are collected Irom Malpighius. Son)e of the 

 numbers I consider valuable, viz.: the llih, 12th, 

 14ih, 15ih, 21st, 2oth, and 26ih. GeoHroy's 2d, 

 3d, and 7th numbers deserve notice. If yuu ihiid< 

 they are worth a place in your valuable periodical 

 you will publish them. William B. Smith. 

 Nos. 

 1st. Flowers contain the male and female organs 



oi' creneration of plants. 

 2d. The male organs are small bladders, (the 

 apices,) full of a very fine dust ; each particle of 

 which is of a particular distinguished Ibrm in 

 each specif's of plants. 

 3d. When this dust or farina is sufficiently ripe, 

 the bladders break with an elastic Ibrce, and 

 throw the dust from them. 

 4lh. The female organ is the stylus, pistilliim, or 

 tuba, consisting of several canals, which are 

 open and wide at one extremity ; but in the 

 other, nearest to the stalk of the plant, termi- 

 nate in one or more cavities, where small 

 roundish ovula are contained. 

 5lh. Both organs of generation are contained 

 within, and protected by, leaves ofdifferent make 

 and color in different plants ; which leaves are 

 generally called the petala or flowers. 

 6th. Some flowers contain both the male and fe- 

 male organs, and therefore are called herma- 

 phrodites ; others only contain one or the other 

 kitid, and thence are named male or female. 

 7lh. Those flowers which are only male or only 

 female, either grow both from the saiTie root, or 

 the male only grow on one plant and the female 

 upon another of the same species; from which 

 such plants are said to be male or female. 

 8th. When the male farina, or dust, is prevented 

 from having access to the female organs, either 

 the ovula do not increase into seeds, or if they 

 do grow, they are deformed, do not contain any 

 germ or rudiment of the young plant, and are 

 not prolific. 

 9th. When the fecundated ovula increase, the 

 germ, oryounor plant of each, is seen lodged in 

 a pulpy substance named the seminal leaves ; 

 which again adhere to, and frequently are sunk 

 some way into a depression of a membrane, 

 which forms a little haa for containinir a liquor ; 

 and therefore this bag is called the amnios. 

 10th. From this side of the amnios, opposite to 

 to that where the germ, with its seminal leaves^ 

 is fixed, a tube (the umbilicus) goes out to be 

 continued to the uterus. 

 11th. Belbre the umbilicus reaches the uterus, it 

 passes through a cavity formed by another 

 membrane that is full of liquor, or contains a 

 great number of small vessels distended with 

 liquor; and therefore is compared to the cho- 

 rion. 

 12ih. The chorion and amnios become n»ore and 

 Vol. VI 11-49 



more turgid with liquors for some time ; but 

 then the liquors begin to diminish, the chorion 

 being soonest emptied, and the navel string 

 shrivels away till it can no longer be observed. 

 ISih. In the mean time the germ and seminal 



leaves increase apace. 

 14;h. At last all the liquors in the chorion and 

 amnios are consumed ; their membranes contract 

 and shrivel; the seed is sufficiently large and 

 confirmed; the small peduncle, by which it ad- 

 heres to the uterus, shrivels, turns hard and 

 brittle, and the seed fall off' with the least Ibrce. 



15th. The seed is composed of its metnbranea or 

 teguments, of a largre farinaceous part, and of 

 the small germ joined to the farinaceous sub- 

 stance by a small peduncle, which is inserted 

 into the germ, bet ween the caulis, stalk, or plume, 

 and the radicle, or small root, of this young 

 plant. 



16th. The germ is evidently the young plant, 

 where the plume and root may plainly be seen. 



17th. When the fecundated seed is sown at th-e 

 proper season, the farinaceous substance soon 

 becomes softer, and the germ stretches its stalk 

 upwards and its roots downwards. 



18th. The farinaceous substance either remains 

 under ground, turning larger fbr some time, but 

 having its substance changed more and more 

 into a milky liquor, or it is extended upwards in 

 form of one or two pulpy juicy leaves. From 

 the different fbrms which this farinaceous sub- 

 stance takes, it is called the cotyledons, seminal 

 leaves or lobes. 



19th. Afer some lime, the lobes begin to shrivel, 

 and to have their liquors consumed ; and at last, 

 when their juices are all wasted, they fade 

 away and fall off, 



20lh. The plarnt grows very fast all this time. 



21st. When the cotyledons are taken off before 

 the plants are put into the earth, scarce any of 

 them will vegetate, and all perish very soon. 



22d. Those that advance any, after being thus de- 

 prived of their cotyledons, increase rather in 

 their plume than root. 



23d. When the seminal leaves are taken away, 

 after allowing the plant to vegetate so far as to 

 come above ground, it perishes in a little time, 

 the roots generally lading first. 



24th. If the cotyledons are taken away later, 

 most of the plants die, and those that continue 

 to grow are always very small. 



25th. When only one cotyledon is taken away, 

 the plants do grow, but are not near so large or 

 strong as the others that are left entire. 



26ih. By taking away the plume, when it first 

 sprouts above ground, the roots grow very large 

 and quickly. 



Remarks by Alexander Monro, Sen., 31. D., on 

 the preceding 26 nwmbers. 



"To fix an analogy here between animals and 

 plants, it will be necessary to determine how long 

 either of them should be said to remain in the 

 state of a fmtus : which, in my opinion, ought to 



