152 PROSERPINA. 



industriously prepared by man himself, for his mere suste- 

 nance. But the husk of the seed is prepared in many cases 

 for the delight of his eyes, and the pleasure of his palate, by 

 Nature herself, and is then called a * fruit.' 



3. The varieties of structure both in seed and husk, and yet 

 more, the manner in which the one is contained, and distrib- 

 uted by, the other, are infinite ; and in some cases the husk 

 is apparently wanting, or takes some unrecognizable form. 

 But in far the plurality of instances the two parts of the plant's 

 treasury are easily distinguishable, and must be separately 

 studied, whatever their apparent closeness of relation, or, (as 

 in all natural things,) the equivocation sometimes taking place 

 between the one and the other. To me, the especially curious 

 point in this matter is that, while I find the most elaborate ac- 

 counts given by botanists of the stages of growth in each of 

 these parts of the treasury, they never say of what use the guar- 

 dian is to the guarded part, irrespective of its service to man. 

 The mechanical action of the husk in containing and scattering 

 the seeds, they indeed often notice and insist on ; but they do 

 not tell us of what, if any, nutritious or fostering use the rind 

 is to a chestnut, or an orange's pulp to its pips, or a peach's 

 juice to its stone. 



4. Putting aside this deeper question for the moment, let 

 us make sure we understand well, and define safely, the sep- 

 arate parts themselves. A seed consists essentially of a store, 

 or sack, containing substance to nourish a germ of life, which 

 is surrounded by such substance, and in the process of growth 

 is first fed by it. The germ of life itself rises into two por- 

 tions, and not more than two, in the seeds of two-leaved 

 plants ; but this symmetrical dualism must not be allowed to 

 confuse the student's conception, of the three organically 

 separate parts, the tough skin of a bean, for instance ; the 

 softer contents of it which we boil to eat ; and the small 

 germ from which the root springs when it is sown. A 

 bean is the best type of the whole structure. An almond out 

 of its shell, a peach-kernel, and an apple-pip are also clear and 

 perfect, though varied types. 



5. The husk, or seed-vessel, is seen in perfect simplicity of 



