REPRODUCTION OF PLANTS. 85 



62. The Ovule, as has just been seen, is con- 

 tained within the carpel, and becomes the germ 

 of the new plant ; it is either naked or enclosed 

 in a covering, sometimes sessile, sometimes 

 stalked : in its most complete state it consists of 

 a nucleus, surrounded by two coats or integu- 

 ments. 



63. The Fruit is the mature state of the pis- 

 til or carpels. 



the stamens, and occupying the very centre of the flower" 

 (the common Ranunculus, or Buttercup, is the one he 

 takes as his example) " are a number of little green grains, 

 which look almost like green scales ; they are collected 

 in a heap, and are seated upon a small elevated recep- 

 tacle ; we call them carpels. They are too small to be 

 seen readily without a magnifying glass ; but if they are 

 examined in that way, you will remark that each is 

 roundish at the bottom, and gradually contracted into a 

 kind of short bent horn at the top ; the rounded part is 

 the ovary, the horn is the style ; and the tip of the style, 

 which is rather more shining and somewhat wider than 

 the style itself, is named the stigma: so that a carpel 

 consists of ovary, style, and stigma. At first sight you 

 may take the carpels to be solid, and, if you already 

 know something of botany, you may fancy them to be 

 young seeds; but in both opinions, you would be mis- 

 taken. The ovary of each carpel is hollow and contains 

 a young seed called an ovule, or little egg; so that the 

 carpel, instead of being the seed, is the part that con- 

 tains the seed." (Letter I. p. 7.) 



