THE MADDER TRIBE. 173 



till their points nearly meet {fig. 4.). l^i the inside 

 of each nut is a curved seed, containing a small embryo 

 of the same figure, embedded in hard horny albu- 

 men, and turning its radicle towards the base (^fig. 5.). 



You cannot have a better example than this of the 

 great importance of botanical knowledge, in forming 

 a correct opinion upon many common questions. A 

 person, unacquainted with the science, would not com- 

 prehend the possibility of this Goosegrass being allied 

 to the Honeysuckle (Vol. I. Plate XIV.), and yet I 

 shall shew you, by the plainest evidence, that such is 

 an indisputable fact. 



Gather a specimen of any common Honeysuckle, 

 and compare it with another of the Snowberry, which 

 Linnaeus used to consider a sort of Honeysuckle ; then 

 place by the side of the Snowberry a Laurustinus in 

 flower, and by the Laurustinus a bunch of Elder 

 blossoms. You will then find, although the Honey- 

 suckle and the Elder at first seemed very dissimilar, 

 yet that the two may be gradually connected by so 

 few as these tw^o transitions. 



Next, compare the Goosegrass wnth the Elder. 

 The former has a small, white, regular, monopetalous 

 corolla, with as many stamens as lobes, an inferior 

 ovary, containing one seed in each cell, seeds with an 

 embryo buried in horny albumen, and opposite leaves 

 without stipules ; in all these important points the Elder 

 coincides. That plant, indeed, is a small tree, with 

 pinnated leaves, large cymes of flowers, three cells to 

 the ovary, and succulent fruit, while Goosegrass is a 

 prostrate, annual, rough-stemmed plant, with simple 



