XIII. THE SEED AND HUSK. 247 



skin, which holds the seed. The main difficulty, 

 in describing or thinking of the completely ripened 

 product of any plant, is to discern clearly which 

 is the inner skin of the husk, and which the outer 

 skin of the seed. The peach is in this respect 

 the best general type, — the woolly skin being the 

 outer one of the husk; the part we eat, the central 

 substance of the husk ; and the hard shell of the 

 stone, the inner skin of the husk. The bitter kernel 

 within is the seed. 



7. In this case, and in the plum and cherry, the 

 two parts under present examination — husk and 

 seed — separate naturally ; the fruity part, which 

 is the body of the husk, adhering firmly to the 

 shell, which is its inner coat. But in the walnut 

 and almond, the two outer parts of the husk 

 separate from the interior one, which becomes an 

 apparently independent 'shell.' So that when first 

 I approached this subject I divided the general 

 structure of a treasury into three parts — husk, shell, 

 and kernel; and this division, when we once have 

 mastered' the main one, will be often useful. But 

 at first let the student keep steadily to his con- 

 ception of the two constant parts, husk and seed, 

 reserving the idea of shells and kernels for one 

 group of plants only. 



8. It will not be always without difficulty that 



