LETTER XLVIII 



THE RIPE FRUIT OF A MANGO. 



Plate L. 



I SEND you a beautiful drawing, by Mr. Francis 

 Bauer, of the fruit of a Mango, a delicious tropical 

 fruit, which has occasionally been brought to per- 

 fection in the hothouses of England, but which is 

 better known in Europe in the form of a pickle. My 

 object in placing the drawing in your hands is to 

 shew you, by its means, something more of the 

 internal structure of a fruit and a seed than you yet 

 possess. 



You must remember, that the type of all fruit is 

 the carpel ; that all carpels are formed upon one 

 common plan, modified indeed to a great extent, by 

 excessive growth, solidification, attenuation, or the like ; 

 and that fruits of every description arc composed of one 

 or more carpels, distinct or consolidated, and more or 

 less altered by causes of the same nature as those 

 which affect each separate carpel. So that, to under- 

 stand the connection that exists between the parts of 

 one ripe carpel, is to possess a standard, to which the . 

 peculiarities of all other carpels may be reduced. 

 Nothing more instructive than the Majigo can be 

 taken. 



