ON FRUIT. 



gin ! I suppose, then, that it is the almond which ab- 

 sorbs the chief part of the nourishment, for the whole of 

 the pericarp is dry and meagre. 



Emily. Were fruits not so treacherous in their appear- 

 ance, I should conclude that the apple and the pear de- 

 rived their fleshy substance, like the peach, from the swel 

 ling out of the mesocarp ; but I have so often been mis- 

 taken in my conjectures, that I make the inquiry with diffi- 

 dence ? 



Mrs. B. You are right not to be too confident ; for 

 the apple and pear are quite of a different description 

 from the drupe. But do not let us proceed too fast, and 

 by degrees I hope I shall be able to make you comprehend 

 them all. I began by selecting the most simple cases, in 

 order to be well understood : we must go on upon the 

 same plan ; for in natural science we cannot, as in chem- 

 istry, make experiments which gradually lead us from the 

 simplest to the most compound combinations ; but Nature 

 makes these experiments for us, and our business is onl 

 to arrange the combinations she exhibits in methodica 

 order. We have hitherto considered fruits formed of a 

 single carpel ; but it is not difficult to concieve that a fruit 

 may be composed of several carpels. Take, for example, 

 this Po3ony : it consists of a number of carpels, each of 

 which exactly resembles a pod. You recollect my telling 

 you that the pistil of a flower was commonly formed of 

 several carpels : such flowers will produce fruits with a 

 similar number of carpels. 



Caroline. Oh, yes ; and I recollect your saying that 

 this was the case with the apple and the pear. 



Mrs. B. A little more patience : we are not yet arriv- 

 ed at the apple and the pear. 



Emily. But cannot you show us some other fruits sim- 

 ilar to that of the poeony ? for I see it is only by natural 

 specimens that one can understand the curious transfor- 

 mation of flowers into fruits. 



Mrs. B. It is very true, that it is necessary to observe 

 the flower in order to understand the conformation of the 

 fruit. Here is an opocynum: its flower bears two carpels, 



1245. What does Caroline suppose of the almond 1 ? 1246. What 

 comparison does Mrs. B. make between experiments in chemistry and 

 botany 1 ? 1247. To illustrate what is the Poeony selected and what is 

 said of it! 1248. Why is it an apocynum and what is said of it 1 ? 



