ANTHERS AND POLLEN-GRAINS. 279 



the other hand, there are many flowers, which appear perfect 

 to the uninstructed eye, but which are totally destitute of 

 fertility. 



433. The parts of a flower essentially concerned in the repro- 

 ductive process are the stamens and pistil. The stamens are 

 little bodies, having yellow heads mounted on long stalks, which 

 are seen around but not in the centre of the flower. These 

 stalks are called filaments ; whilst the heads are called the 

 anthers. Each head is usually seen to be more or less com- 

 pletely divided into two parts, which are termed anther-lobes. 

 These are commonly united 



together; as in Fig. 80, a, <ffi Of) O *JKXf . G 

 5, c, d; but sometimes they 

 are separated, as at e; and 

 occasionally only a single FlG . 80 ._ DlFFEBENT FORMS op 8TAMENS : a , 



lobe is present, as at /. lily; b, lemna; c, potato; d, berberry; e, 



Within the anthers are pro- ginger;/5 sage> 



duced a number of minute yellow bodies, usually of a globular 

 form, which together constitute the fine dust, known as the 

 pollen or farina of the flower. Each grain of pollen, when exa- 

 mined with the microscope, is seen to consist of a cell, exactly 

 analogous to that which constitutes a spore. It has two or more 

 coats, which enclose a fluid; and in this, a large number of 

 extremely minute granules may be seen with a good microscope. 

 These granules are probably the germs of new cells ; being ana- 

 logous to those which are sent forth from the Red Snow, the 

 Confervas, and the Yeast Fungi. They may be seen to move 

 within the parent cell, or pollen-grain, previously to the time 

 when its walls become too thick to allow of their being observed 

 through them ; and, when the contents of the pollen-grain are 

 mixed with water, they are seen to be constantly performing a 

 sort of vibratory motion. The anthers, or receptacles of pollen, 

 which evidently correspond with the capsules or spore-cases of 

 the Cryptogamia, burst when their contents are mature, and 

 scatter the grains forth. They have various ways of opening ; 

 sometimes they split along their length as at a, Fig. 80 ; some- 

 times transversely, as at b ; sometimes by little openings at their 



