£.1S 



NEW ORGAN IN SEEDS. 



lieved^ thet these vessels, uniting with the unibihcal corj, 

 transmitted tlie fecundation to the embryo thiou^h the um- 

 bilicus itself, E«t as this cord is an assemblage of feriili;4ing 

 and nutritive vessels, and as there are two apertures at the 

 place where it reaches , the ovula, is it not rworc reasonable 

 to suppose, that it' is divided there; that the nutritive ves- 

 sels Inosculate with tl^e umbilicus properly so called ; and 

 that the fertiiizr>>g ve;^sels pass throui^h the raicropyle, to 

 conrsmunicate iinruediately to the embryo the vital principle, 

 or rathes' that contact, so necessary to tlie iirst life of every 

 organic being*? 

 The micropyle The little perceptibility of the micropyle on seeds arrived 



i^ot easi y bccn ^^ ip.fitnrity is perhaps one of the causes, why it has beea 

 in npo i:eeds. . . 



overlooked by so many natural philosophers. I said at the 



beginning-, that it had been seen on several of the legnmi- 

 ^ nous seeds by Grew, Gleichen, Gsevtner, and Mirbel ; but 

 none of these expert obsevvers, except Grew, deemed it of 

 Grew saw it, any importauce. Grew ascribed to it two functions, one of 

 Du mistoo 1 s ^|^j^,|^ |-jgg |3^gj-, already refuted by a number of experiments 

 made on the subject. In the first place he imagined, that 

 this aperture might serve to facilitate the introductioii of air 

 and moisture into the seeds at the moment of germination. 

 This notion, which might appear very ingenious and satis- 

 factory when Grew wrote, is inadmissible in the present 

 state of our knowledge. We now know from a thousand 

 experiments, that the stopping; up of thjs aperture, and 

 even that of the omphalodes, with wax or varnish, does not 

 and in another prevent the developement of the embryo. Grew himself, in 

 place ascribes a ai^other part of his work, overturns the use he had at first 

 r.imilar otticw ., , , . , , » . i 



to the coats, ascribed to this organ, when he says expressly: " the bean 



" being enclosed in its skins, it is necessary, that the juices 

 " intended for its nourishment must pass through tliem by 

 " filtration, and impart to the embryo only the quantity re- 

 *' quisite. If the embryo were divested of these, it would 

 " draw too much juice ; and as it would be without its fit- 

 Organized b2- * Every organic being has two lives. The first receives its fertilizing 

 iags have two princir.le and nutrition by means of an umbilicus. 1 he second com- 

 l*ves. mences at the moment v/hen the embryo or fcctns, having attained its 



anroinied degree of maturity, separates from tlie placenta, and takes ia 

 aliment £t a single maiilh or at ihout-a:!d<, 



" tere. 



