SPINAGE. 281 



expanded they cannot be closed without 

 breaking ; but to counteract this apparent in- 

 convenience, and to secure the pollen from 

 the weather, to which, from its natural situa- 

 tion it is particularly exposed, each petal forms 

 a kind of hood, under whose roof the chives 

 thrust their fecundating heads, until the 

 stigma is sufficiently matured to receive the 

 farina, when the chives by bending to a quar- 

 ter circle extricate their loaded balls for the 

 purpose of impregnation. The stigma is 

 solitary, and slightly cut in three at the top. 

 Its blossoms, which may be found in the 

 months of August and September, are worth 

 the inspection of the curious, who will see in 

 them that nothing in nature is too minute to 

 be perfectly formed, and suited for its situa- 

 tion and security in producing its species. 



