54 SEED. 



which is embedded in it, is very different, being scarcely 

 discernible in some cases, whilst in others, as in the 

 Cocoa-nut, (the white eatable substance) it is very con- 

 siderable. The albumen of the Nutmeg is said to be 

 ruminated ; the appearance it presents arising from its 

 being traversed by layers of cellular tissue, differing 

 from the rest of the solid albumen. The albumen is 

 generally of a farinaceous, saccharine or oily nature, 

 though sometimes even bony. 



293. The most essential part of the seed, the embryo, 

 is, as its name implies, the germ of another being, and 

 only waiting for the conditions necessary to call into 

 action its yet slumbering vitality ere it springs in a new 

 and perfect plant. 



294. A seed generally contains only one embryo, 

 though sometimes, as in the Pine tribe, several are de- 

 veloped within the same testa. 



295. The embryo may be said to consist of three 

 p. 40 parts: the cotyledons (a a), the radicle 



(b), and the plumula (c). (These may 

 be easily observed on dividing a broad 

 Bean.) 



296. The seeds of a great many 

 plants, as those having exogenous stems, 

 have, as a general rule, always two co- 

 tyledons, as at (fig. 49), and such plants 

 are termed dicotyledonous, as the Oak or Bramble. 



297. The seeds of plants having endogenous stems, 

 have, as a general rule, only one cotyledon, and are 

 termed monocotyledonous, as the Lily or Grass. 



298. Whilst other plants, as Ferns, etc., have no 

 true cotyledonary body which holds a relationship to 

 the other parts of the embryo, similar to the other two, 

 these are called acotyledonous. 



299. Though these may be stated to be the general 

 rules, several exceptions exist to what we have stated. 



300. For instance, in otherwise Dicotyledonous plants 

 (that is, plants presenting other circumstances known 

 to accompany the existence of two cotyledonary bodies 



