8 LETTER I. 



sucks up the moisture it finds there, swells, and 

 finally each of the minute grains, of which it con- 

 sists, discharges a jet of matter upon the stigma, 

 which fertilizes the ovule, and then the latter 

 grows and becomes a seed. But if the pollen does 

 not fall upon the stigma, then the ovule withers away, 

 and no seed is produced. Thus, you see every 

 one of these parts of the flower is formed for some 

 wise purpose. The sepals are to protect the petals ; 

 the petals to protect the stamens and carpels, and to 

 form sugary food for their support ; the stamens are 

 to fertilize the ovules, and the carpels are to guard 

 the young and tender seeds from injury ; fertilization 

 could not take place without the aid of the pollen ; 

 and the pollen could not produce its effect if it were 

 not for the moisture and peculiar construction of the 

 stigma. How admirable is the skill which is mani- 

 fested in the construction of this little flower, and 

 how striking a proof does it offer of the care with 

 which the Creator has provided for the humblest of 

 his works ! 



You have now seen all the parts of which flowers 

 usually consist ; the fruit is merely an alteration of 

 the carpels, and the seed of the ovules. So perfect 

 is the adaptation of the several parts to the end they 

 have to perform, that it rarely happens that in the 

 Crowfoot any of the ovules miss being fertilized. For 

 this reason, the fruit of the Crowfoot is almost ex- 

 actly the same when ripe as when young, except 

 that its parts are larger, and it has become brown, dry 

 and hard {fig. 6.). Separate, at this period, one of 



