HILUM, THE SCAR. ( 225 



as may be seen in a Walnut, and the kernel of a 

 Peach, Almond, or Plum. In the Jasmine a quan- 

 tity of pulp is lodged between the Menibrana and 

 the Testa, constituting a pulpy seed, semen bacca- 

 tum, which is distinct from the Acinus, or grain of 

 a compound berry in the Raspberry, the seed of the 

 latter having its proper double covering within the 

 pulp. The Testa bursts irregularly, and only from 

 the swelling of its contents in germination. 



Hilum, the Scar, is the point by which the seed 

 is attached to its seed-vessel or receptacle, and 

 through which alone life and nourishment are con- 

 veyed for the perfecting its internal parts. Conse- 

 quently all those parts must be intimately con- 

 nected with the inner surface of this scar, and they 

 are all found to meet there, and to divide or divari- 

 cate from that point, more or less immediately. 

 In describing the form or various external portions 

 of any seed, the Hilum is always to be considered 

 as the base. When the seed is quite ripe, the com- 

 munication through this channel is interrupted : it 

 separates from the parent plant without injury, a 

 Scar being formed on each. Yet the Hilum is so 

 far capable of resuming its former nature, that the 

 moisture of the earth is imbibed through it previous 

 to termination. 



o 



There are various accessory parts, or appendages, 

 Q 



