18 BOTANY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 



pieces. We are not nigh as beautiful, though I 

 am sure, much more valuable. 



E. That question has puzzled many a-one. 

 and yet is easily explainable. In plants, the 

 most curious parts of their structure are laid 

 open to view, but the similar organs in ourselves 

 entirely concealed. I have no doubt, were it 

 possible to render your hand transparent so that 

 you might see the wondrous animated ma- 

 chinery and gorgeous colors displayed there, the 

 spectacle would far surpass in beauty and finish 

 that exhibited by the rarest production of the 

 vegetable kingdom. 



L. You have explained the uses of the sta- 

 mens and pistils; thje corolla, I suppose, has 

 no particular virtue it is only for ornament. 



E. It is the opinion of many that it prepares 

 a fluid for the nourishment of the stamens, and 

 this opinion is rather strengthened by the obser- 

 vation in some flowers of the nectary being only 

 a part of it, as in the common Columbine of the 

 gardens : the little horns of that flower which 

 some have compared to doves stooping to drink, 

 from whence a^bse its name of Columbine, fron i 

 Columba, a dove are nectaries. 



L. What is the use of the Nectary ? 



