596 THE REPRODUCTIVE FUNCTIONS. 



appended a tube, (the pistil), terminated by a 

 kind of spongiole, (the stigma). The fecunda- 

 ting organs are the stamens, which are columns, 

 {ov filaments), placed generally near and parallel 

 to the pistil, and terminated by a glandular 

 organ, (the anther). This organ, when mature, 

 contains, enclosed in a double envelope, a fine 

 powder, (the pollen), consisting of very minute 

 vesicles, filled with a viscous liquor, (the fov ilia), 

 in which are seen extremely small granules. 

 Fecundation takes place by a portion of the 

 pollen being received by the stigma, and con- 

 veyed through the tubular pistil to the seed, 

 which it impregnates by imparting to it the fluid 

 it contains. 



By far the greater number of plants com- 

 posing the vegetable kingdom have these two 

 sets of organs contained in the same flower ; or 

 at least in flowers belonging to the same indivi- 

 dual plant. In the animal kingdom this ar- 

 rangement is also adopted, but only in a com- 

 paratively small number of tribes. In these the 

 ova, in their passage from the ovary, along a 

 canal termed the oviduct, are fecundated by 

 receiving a secretion from another set of organs 

 in the same system, which is conveyed by a 

 duct, opening into the oviduct in some part of its 

 course. In a limited number of plants, com- 

 posing the class Dioecia, the individuals of the 

 same species are distinguished by their bearing 



