84 LETTER V. 



very correctly this pistil is composed of three carpels 

 adhering to each other. 



The ripe fruit is just like the pistil, except that it 

 is darker-coloured, larger, and destitute of styles, 

 which drop off shortly after the ovules are fertilized ; 

 it finally (y?^. 7-) divides into three pieces or valves, 

 each of which is one carpel ; so that the adhesion 

 between the carpels which took place when the flower 

 was exceedingly young, does not cease till the fruit 

 arrives at a state of dissolution. The seeds are very 

 minute, but worth examining for their exceeding 

 beauty. They are of an oval form, and up one side 

 runs a curious crest {fig. 8.) which gives the seed 

 something the appearance of an ancient helmet. 



This plant represents the characters of an order 

 called the Tutsan tribe (Hypericacese), into which 

 enter few other genera besides that which compre- 

 hends our wild flowers. Among them, however, are 

 some, found in the tropical parts of America, called 

 Vismias, which yield a resinous substance resembling 

 gamboge. In fact, something of the same kind may 

 be traced in many of the Tutsans themselves. True, 

 gamboge is itself the produce of a tree of the 

 natural order Guttiferae, to which belongs, among 

 others, the Mangosteen tree, which bears the most 

 delicious fruit in the world ; that natural order has 

 an exceedingly strong aflinity with the Tutsan tribe. 



I need not recapitulate the characters of the orders 

 explained in this letter, as they are so very distinct 

 that you may safely be left on this occasion to your 

 own ingenuity. In my next letter I shall present you 

 with some very interesting subjects. 



