208 



THE FLOWER. 



erring instruments which his paternal care has provided, 

 to promote and secure the welfare of his creatures. 



Caroline. I now understand and perfectly acquiesce in 

 your sentiments. It is very true that the mind, amazed at 

 the wisdom that is displayed in the laws of Nature, is apt 

 to consider them as a sort of mechanical cause, rather 

 than as mere agents of an all-wise and sentient Power. 



Mrs. B. To return, then, to the flower and the envel- 

 ope of the seed, in which, I trust, you will continue to 

 take some interest, although we have deprived it of sensi- 

 bility; unless in a poetic sense. When this leaf is clos- 

 ed over the seed, and its edges soldered together, it is cal- 

 led an ovary, or seed-vessel. From its summit rises a lit- 

 tle thread-like stalk, called a style, which, at its extremity, 

 supports a small spongy substance, denominated stigma. 

 These three parts form a whole, which bears the name 

 of carpel. 



Emily. Is carpel, then, synonymous with pistil ? For 

 I know that an ovary, with its style and stigma, consti- 

 tutes a pistil ? 



Mrs. B. Pistils are composed, in general, of several 

 carpels, which, in most flowers, are so neatly fitted to each 

 other, and so closely adhere together, that they are con- 

 sidered as a single organ, containing different cavities for 

 seed ; but the most accurate anatomical researches prove 

 that these several cavities have each its styte and stigma, 

 and form distinct carpels : thus, the blossom of the apple 

 and the pear have several carpels soldered together. 



Caroline. Oh, yes ; for when they become fruits they 

 contain several seeds. 



Mrs. B. That would afford no proof of the pistil con- 

 sisting of more than one carpel, which often contains ma- 

 ny seeds ; but in the apple and pear the seeds or pips are 

 lodged in separate carpels. It is true, however, that a 

 single carpel forms the pistil of some flowers ; such, for 

 instance, is the blossom of the cherry, which, you know, 

 has but one seed, the kernel contained within the stone. 

 In some flowers, the styles and stigmas remain separate, 

 and the ovaries are soldered together : the flower is then 



1140. What is the style, the stigma, and the carpel of a flower 1 ? 

 1141 .How are pistils formed and what is said of them! 1142. 

 In what flowers does a single carpel form the pistil? 



