25 



8. Empedocies thought that whatever grew, drew 

 its origin from seed, which he compares to eggs in 

 this respect ; that it originally contains in it a nu- 

 tritive aliment, which it immediately communicates to 

 the root. And Aristotle reasoning on this senti- 

 ment of Empedocies says, that in plants the two 

 sexes are united, which makes them capable of pro- 

 pagating themselves ; but instead of a foetus, they 

 produce seed, which is the fruit of their generative 

 faculty. And on this account Empedocies called 

 plants oviparous ; for t; the seed, or egg," said he, 

 4< is the fruit of the generative faculty, one part of 

 which serves to form the plant, and the other to nou 

 rishthe germ and root ; in animals of different sexes, 

 we see that nature, when they would procreate, im 

 pels them to unite, and like plants to become one, 

 that from this combination of two, there may spring 

 up another animal." 



9. As to the manner in which fruits were impreg- 

 nated, the ancients were not ignorant, that it was by 

 means of the prolific dust contained in the flower of 

 the male, and they carried the accuracy of their ob- 

 servations so far as to remark that the fruits of trees 

 never come to maturity, till they have been che- 

 rished with that dust. Upon this, Aristotle says, 

 * that if one shake the dust of a branch of the male 

 palm over the female, her fruits will quickly ripen ; 

 and that when the wind sheds this dust of the male 

 upon the female ; her fruits ripen apace." 



10. Theophrastus,treating of the samesubjecf, say,% 

 " they bring the male to the female palm, in order to 

 make her produce fruits. The manner in which they 

 proceed is this. When the male is in flower, they 

 select a branch abounding in that downy dust which 

 resides in the flower, and shake this over the fruit 

 of the female. This operation prevents the fruit 

 from becoming abortive, and brings it soon to per. 

 feet maturity.'* "Naturalists," says Pliny, " admit 



TOL. v. c 



