A 



JOURNAL - 



OF 



NATURAL PHILOSOPHY, CHEMISTRY, 



AND 



THE ARTS. 



JULY, 1812. 



ARTICLE I. 



On the Dissection of Flowers. In a Letter from Mrs* 

 Agnes Ibbetson. 



To Mr. NICHOLSON. 

 Sir, 



I 



Have long reproached myself with not again bringing 



this subject before the public, as one of the most important 



in physiology, and that which, must prove most absolutely 



the existence of the line of life. One of the first facts I 



endeavoured to *show in my early letters, was, that every 



flower was formed by a part of the stalk appropriated to it; 



and that Linneus was, as usual, most absolutely rio-ht, 



when he advanced, that the wood formed the stamen, the 



inner bark the corolla, and so on to the rest of the division. T r r . 



iiii 11 How to find 



The present letter should have preceded many you have the mechanism 



received and published, as it will I hope not only explain of P lants « 

 how the mechanical work is concealed in a plant, but illus- 

 trate the fact just mentioned ; enabling any person (if so 

 inclined) to follow me in my dissections, and teach them 

 how to seek the mechanism that belongs to eajch separate 

 part. All vegetable structure is formed in one peculiar 

 manner, that is, cylinder within cylinder; and on this 

 Vol. XXXII. No. 148.— July 1812. N curious 



