THE SEEDS. 219 



In the most perfect examples of this kind of fruit 

 the Seeds are closely sheltered by the scales as by a 

 capsule, of which the Fir, Cypress, &c., are instances. 

 In the Birch and Alder they have a kind of capsule 

 besides, and in the Willow and Poplar a stalked 

 bivalve capsule, still more separate from the scales. 

 The Plane-tree, Platanus, the Liquidambar and the 

 Comptonia, have globular catkins, in which bristles 

 or tubercles supply the place of scales. See 

 Gartner, t. 90. 



6. SEMINA. The Seeds are the sole " end and aim 

 of all the organs of fructification. Every other part 

 is, in some manner, subservient to the forming, per- 

 fecting, or dispersing of these. A seed consists of 

 several parts, some of which are more essential than 

 others, and of these I shall speak first. 



Embryo,, f. 2, 4, the Embryo, or Germ, is the 

 most essential of all, to which the rest are wholly 

 subservient, and without which no seed is perfect, or 

 capable of vegetation, however complete in external 

 appearance. Linnaeus, after Caesalpinus, names it 

 the Corculum, or Little Heart, and it is the point 

 whence the life and organization of the future plant 

 originate, as we have already explained, p. 74. In 

 some seeds it is much more conspicuous than in 

 others. The Walnut, the Bean, Pea, Lupine, &c., 

 show the Embryo in perfection. Its internal struc- 

 ture, before it begins to vegetate, is observed by 



