6 



LETTER I. 



leaves (A. b.), which are rather concave, and fall 

 off shortly after the flower opens ; leaves of this sort 

 form the calyx, and are called sepals ; it is sup- 

 posed that they are intended to protect the more 

 tender parts of the flower, when the latter are very 

 young and delicate. 



Next the sepals are placed five other leaves, 

 which are much larger, and of a bright shining yel- 

 low ; they stand up and form a little cup, in the 

 bottom of which the other parts of the flower are 

 curiously aiTanged ; these five shining yellow leaves 

 form the corolla, and are called petals. They give 

 all its gay and glittering appearance to the Crow- 

 foot ; which, when they have dropped oflP, is scarcely 

 to be distinguished from the grass it grows among. 

 Their business is, in part, to prepare the honey which 

 exudes from a little scale you will find on their in- 

 side, near their base (Jig. 1.), and, which, if secreted 

 in sufficient quantity, is collected by bees for their 

 sweet food ; and it is, in part, to protect from injury 

 the delicate organs which lie in their bosom. These 

 last are of two sorts ; as you will soon learn. 



In a ring from which both the sepals and petals 

 arise, you will find a number of little thread-like 

 yellow bodies, which are thicker at the top than at the 

 bottom ; they spread equally round the centre, as if 

 they wished to avoid that part, and are a great deal 

 shorter than the petals ; we call them stamens. 

 Their lower part, which looks like a thread, is called 

 the filament ; their upper thickened end is named 

 the anther. This last part is hollow, and will be 



