*218 LETTER XLVIII. 



Such would be tlie position of auy three pairs of 

 opposite leaves upon a brancli, as you may see by a 

 Laurustinus, or a Sycamore tree ; and hence they are 

 all, cotyledons and plumular scales, considered rudi- 

 mentary, or incompletely formed leaves. 



If you can only understand that all fruits whatso- 

 ever are either multiplications of that of the Mango, 

 with the addition perhaps of several seeds, and such 

 alterations as I have already spoken of (p. 214), you 

 may form a correct physiological notion of the essen- 

 tial parts of all theories concerning fruits and seeds. 

 For the details relating to so exceedingly curious a sub- 

 ject, I must refer you to any very recent Introductions 

 to Botany, in which the science is treated philosophi- 

 callv. 



