92 LETTER VI. 



The simplicity of its characters and the remarkable 

 arrangement of its stamens, render it unnecessary for 

 me to dwell longer upon this natural order. 



The next to which I shall direct your attention, is 

 that of the Orange, in which I hope to make your 

 little pupils take as much interest botanically, as they 

 already do in a more practical way. 



Oranges, Shaddocks, Limes, Lemons, Forbidden 

 Fruit, and the like, are all produced by plants which 

 represent a tribe perfectly distinct from the rest of the 

 vegetable kingdom, and which we call the Orange 

 ti^ibe. The are all natives of countries warmer than 

 this, and principally of the temperate parts of India ; 

 their fruit is in all cases eatable, although not always 

 worth eating ; their leaves and flowers all fragrant, 

 and they are universally evergreens of beautiful ap- 

 pearance. The cells filled with oil, which you find in 

 cutting the rind of an orange, are met with in both 

 leaves and flowers, to which they often give the 

 appearance of being covered with little blisters ; and, 

 as usual, it is in them that the sweet odours are 

 stored up. 



To understand the structure of this interesting 

 tribe, let us take the common sweet Orange, a plant 

 or two of which is kept in every green-house, for the 

 sake of the delicious fragrance of the flowers. It has 

 leaves with netted veins, and filled with transparent 

 spots {jig. 6.) ; they are always jointed just above 

 the footstalk, so that each leaf will readily snap 

 asunder in two pieces. The calyx is a little cup 

 with five shallow teeth : so complete is the combina- 



