NEW ORGAN IN SEEDS. » 217 



terward, it is solely owing to the growth and enlargement 

 of the seed. Its situation near the point of adhesion is such, 

 that the fertilizing vessels may enter it by the shortest way. 

 Thus in the labiati we find it constantly placed toward that 

 part of the hilum, which faces the centre, and is conse- 

 quently as near as possible to the style. In the liliaceous 

 and leguminous plants, and in general all those that pro- 

 duce capsules in which the seeds adhere laterally, it is su- 

 perior to the point of adhesion, as we may easily see in the 

 French bean, or any other pulse. I ought also to observe, ^nd opposite 

 that it constantly answers to the point of the radicle*, in the point of 

 every seed in which the internal membrane retains the name 

 direction as the outer integument. If on the other hand Two distinct 



we consider, that the fertilizing vessels can have no other P^^^^g^=» °."f 

 => for the fertiliz- 



communication with the embryo but by the papillae of the ing, the oher 



stigmata; and if to this be added, that the fecundation is ["'^"jeiseU."'" 



intended solely for the embryo, and influences it alone, 



which it would be easy to prove by a number of facts ; we 



shall not be surprised, that there are two entrances to the 



ovula, the first of which, termed by me the micropylef, 



serves to give a passage to the fertilizing vessels, while the 



second, being the umbilicus for conveying nourishment, 



must be intended for the inosculation of the sapvessels of 



the parent plant. The sole function of the latter must be 



that of supplying aliment suited to the delicacy of the 



young embryo, by furnishing it with juices already in some 



sort digested and filtered by the extreme tenuity of these 



vessels. 



The existence of fertilizing vessels has long been proved. Fertllizingve.* 

 They have engaged the attention of physiologists ever since 

 the establishment of the Linnean system; several have 

 traced them from the stigmata to the ovula ; and they be- 



• Every physiologist knows, that the radicle is the part of the em- The radicls. 

 bryo, in which the vital principle appears strongest. This part, which is 

 always the first perceived after f.-cundation, is likewise that which first 

 lengthens and dilates in germination : accordingly it is toward this, that 

 nature has thought proper to carry directly the. fertilizing fluid, placing 

 it opposite the micropyle, through which the vessels intended for this 

 function enter 



■f Micropjfle, from (jlik^os, small, and wvA.^, a gate. 



lieved. 



