IQ ON THE STRUCTURE AND GROWTH OF SEEDS. 



&rst formed, inihe grass feeds. I shatl say something more 



of this order of plants, when I come to explain the formation 



of the palms. 

 Many mis- "Why I have troubled the reader with this long and I fear 



takes in this tedious account has been mentioned : without a minute de- 

 parto otany. ^_^.j .^ .^ impossible, to clear up the innumerable mistakes, 



that have involved this part of botany in one cloud of errour ; 



nor can they be too soon rectified. The first 1 shall notice 

 The holders of is the supposing the holders of the seed (or those parts 

 the seed taken ^hich retain the lobes, and fasten them to the embryo plant) 

 mencement of to be the commencement of the radicle; an explanation uni- 

 the radicle. yersal among phytologists. But this mistake could never 



have been made, if the seed had beeji dissected progressively. 



Formation and The corculum, which is the first part formed of the embryo, 



growth of ihe j j^ already shown, is the centre of the vessels; the 

 seed. •' . 



stem and cotyledons shoot from the lower part jn the pocket ; 



the radicle from the other end; while the line of life, or im- 

 pregnating duct, runs through it, in one undeviating thread. 

 But instead of this simple progress it is said, that the radi- 

 cle, avoiding this direct line, shoots from two different spots 

 in the seed. How is the vessel, that must accompany it, to 

 get there ? As well might the tail and hind legs of a chicken 

 he supposed to proceed from the string that fastens it to the 

 egg ; nor are the holders of half the consequence the string 

 is to the bird, for that is the vehicle of nourishment to it, 

 but the holders are merely an elongation of the seed vessel 

 for the ])urposes before mentioned. The seed is merely 

 n box where life is sheltered, but which is only kept from 

 decay by the living embryo it contains; nor is it linked to 

 its cradle till the last epoch; when the holders lengthen, 

 and fasten themselves to the embryo plant, the cuticle en- 

 closing it about an inch down the root,Jn order more 

 securely to retain it. But as there are few seeds thxit are 

 thjJS formed, and the lobes themselves with their outward 

 cuticle embrace the embryo in almost all plants, it may well 

 ■be believed the part can be but of little confequence. I 

 know but one ©rder, that gives the least sanction to the 

 •rasses. idea, and that is the grasses; and the cause of this appear- 



ance arises IVpm the radicle occupying not above half the 

 width of the corculum on which it is set; while the nourish- 



