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CHAPTER IX. 



TJMBELLf FEE^ AKALIACE^I COENiC E.E. 



" To every Form of Being is assigned 

 An active principle ; howe'er removed 

 From sense and observation, it subsists 

 In all things, in all natures ; in the stars 

 Of azure heaven, the unending clouds, 

 la flower and tree, in every pebbly stone 

 That paves the brooks, the stationary rocks, 

 The moving waters, and the invisible air. 

 Whate'er exists hath properties that spread 

 Beyond itself, communicating good, 

 A simple blessing, or with evil mixed ; 

 Spirit that knows no insulated spot, 

 No chasm, no solitude ; from link to link 

 It circulates, the Soul of all the World." 



WORDSWORTH. 



THE large order upon which, we are now entering, that of the 

 UMBELLIFERS, abounds in interest. The various members of 

 the families that compose it have minute flowers growing singly 

 on very small stems, all which stems are collected in a cluster 

 and united to the parent stem at the same point ; the cluster 

 thus formed is called an umbel, because the stems radiate in a 

 circle like the ribs of an umbrella. In many of the plants the 

 umbels are compound that is, the main cluster is formed of 

 a number of small ones. Eack little flower has five petals, 

 a calyx formed either of five sepals or a mere ridge, five 

 stamens, and ovary of two cells. The fruit consists of two 

 carpels united at the face, and with raised stripes along their 

 sides. The prevailing colour of the flowers is white, but some 

 are yellow, some tinged with lilac, and a few blue. 



At the juncture of the flower-stalks with the main stem 

 there are generally small leaves or bracts placed in a whorl 

 round the stem ; these are called, collectively, an involucre. 



