.02 



SYNOPSIS OF THE EXTERNAL ORGANS OF PLANTS. 



LECTURE XVII. 



PHYSIOLOGICAL VIEWS— GERMINATION OP THE SEEh. 



We have traced the various organs of the plant, through their suc- 

 cessive stages of development, from the root to the bud, leaf, and 

 flower, and from the flower to the fruit and seed. We haA^e seen, in 

 imagination, the vegetable world fading under a change of tempera- 

 ture, the " sear and yellow leaf" becoming a prey to the autumnal 

 blasts, and even the fruits themselves exhibiting a mass of decayed 

 matter. Were this appearance of decay and death now pre- 

 sented to us for the first time, how gloomy would be the prospect ! 

 How little should we expect the return of Ufe, and beauty, and fra- 

 grance ! No poAver short of Omnipotence, could effect this ; it is in- 

 deed a miracle ! But we are so accustomed to these changes, that, 

 ''seeing, we perceive not;" w^e think not of the mighty Being who 

 produces them ; we call them the operations of nature; but what is 



Enumerate the organs of nutrition— Of reproduction— What are the parts of the 

 root?— The Stem— Bud— Leaf— Different kinds of Appendages— Divisions of the ca- 

 lyx— Corolla— Nectary— Stamens— Pistil— What are the parts of the fruit?— What 

 are the parts of the pericarp ?— Parts of the seed— Of the Embryo— What remarks 

 commence this lecture? 



