G E R 



mtiy b;. Such a eo'.nprchcnfive term is of the more Talue, 

 as not liaving any refpett to the difpiitablc point of whether 

 any feeds be really nak?d or no. We agree with Gxrtner 

 that they cannot in their ori^^in be naked, but mull have 

 fomc integument through which they arc impregnated ; fee 

 1""ecun7jATI0n of Plants. In an advanced Hate the fajne 

 able author could not but allow the exiilence of naked 

 feeds in a certain fonfe, that is, fuch as have only their ov.-n 

 clTential integuments, but no real perkarphim or feed-vefTel. 



G.crtner very fuccefsfully combats the Linnxan hypo- 

 thefis, that the germen originates from the pith of the 

 plant, as the llaniens from the woody part. This idea was 

 purely hypothetical, and is unfuj)ported by any anatomical 

 facl, liowever ingenious the tlieory ot generation deduced 

 from it by the illuilrious Swede. 



The germen is formed as early as any part of the flower, 

 of v.hicli indeed it frequently conftitiites the bafe. Before 

 the ftigma is ripe for impregnation, all the internal parts 

 of the germen, elpecially the young feeds, receive their due 

 fhape and ilruclure, except only the embryo, the rudirnents 

 of which can fcarcely be detected at that period. If no 

 iznprcgnation takes place, the germen, and even the feeds 

 fometimes continue to grow, but a cavity only in fuch cafe 

 will be found in the place ot tlie embryo, whicii has at leail 

 proved abortive and withered away, if it ever }iad any exift- 

 ence. More frequently indeed only the liudis or withered ru- 

 diments of leeds are found in an advanced unimpregnated 

 germen ; and llill more generally the whole germen withers 

 if the ilamcns and lligma have not performed their office. 



Germens are either folitary or numerous, fimple or zrr- 

 pregate, in diiferent genera of plants. With refpecl to 

 I'/tuation, it is important to note whether tlie germen be 

 fuperior, that is, above the bafes of the calyx and corolla, 

 ot inferior, below them. Sucli a difierence commonly 

 marks a vei-y effential generic diftinction, yet in that moll 

 natural genus Saxifraga, fome fpccies have a fuperior and 

 others an inferior germen. Tliis proves, on a careful ana- 

 tomical invelligation, to depend merely on a greater or lefs 

 degree of elevation of the organ in quellion within the cavity 

 of the calyx. Indeed fucii an invelligation of flowers in 

 general will (hew that there is perhaps no fuch thing as an 

 inferior germen, ftrictly fpeaking, becaufe there mull necef- 

 farily be a continuation of the integuments of the flower 

 and their veflels, in fome form or other, alo^g the outer 

 part of what is commonly deemed an ii-.ferior germen, to 

 the ftalk whence their nourifhment- is derived. But tliis 

 " were to conlider too curioully.' The line is in alraofl; 

 every cafe drawn with fufficient diftinction for all ufeful 

 purpofes, and is generally indicated in due time by a fpon- 

 taneous feparation of parts. Sanguiforba is crroneoufiy 

 judged by Lmnsus to have the germen below the corolla 

 though above the calyx, a Ilrange and unexampled circum- 

 itance indeed ! He was milled by the clofe adliefion of 

 the thin pellucid tube of the coi-ollu to the germen. In 

 jidoxa, however, there is an approach towards fuch a fin- 

 gularity of tlrufture, the calyx being inferted half v,'ay 

 down, while the corolla crowns the germen, for this plant, 

 being akin to Suxifragci, partakes of tliat irregularity of 

 pofition in the germen wliich «e have already defcribed. 



Notiiing is more wonderful than that difference of vaf- 

 cular conttitution in tlie germen of different genera or na- 

 tural orders, by which, though in all cafe^ nearly equally 

 juicy while young and growing, in- fome it becomes coria- 

 ceous, or woody, and dry, as it ripens, while in others it 

 attains a foft pulpy coniiftence, which obliterates all its 

 original inttrn.il ilruciure. The wife ends anfwered by 

 tiele differences are indeed apparent, but tke mcaa« by 



G E R 



which they are accompliflied arc, if not iiifcrutable, hitherto 

 unexplained. S. 



GERMER, St., in Geography, a town of France, in 

 the departr.ic.it of tlie Oife ; 12 miles W. of Beauvais. 



GERJvIERSHEIM, a town of France in the depart- 

 ment of Mont Tonnerre, and chief place of a canton, ia the 

 diftricl of Spire ; 5 miles S. of fipire. The j. lace contains 

 1251, and the canton 11,745 '"habitants, in 16 communes. 

 It i,-. fituatcd at the conflux of the O. eich and the Rhine, 

 and was credled into a town by Rodolpluis I., who died 

 here in 1 290. It was taken by the French in 1 794. N. 

 lat. 49 12 . E. long. 8 25'. 



GERMINATION, ia Veg:lab'e Phfiohsy; the firft be- 

 ginning of vegetation in feeds, is acconiphdicd by moifture, 

 heat, and air, acting mechanically and chemically on the fub- 

 llance and component parts of the feed, as well as llimulating 

 its vital principle. Thefc agents mult perform tiicir func- 

 tions together, in order to produce a falutary eflecl, other- 

 wife the vital principle, or the chemiciJ properties of the 

 feed, may be ffimulated or fpoiled, nor mu'l their app'ica- 

 tion, generally fpeaking, be longer delayed than ui'ually 

 h:ippen3 in the ordinary courfe of nature. Some feeds, in- 

 deed, may be kept out of the ground for years, or may re- 

 main buried far beneath its fiirface, we know not how long, 

 without loling their vegetative power; while others muft 

 fcatter themfelves in their own way, immediately from the 

 feed-veffel, in order to fucceed with certainty. A feed ab- 

 forbs, through the veffels of its bafe, or fc.ir, any moillurc 

 that comes in its way, and it foon meets with fuch a fupply 

 when committed to the ground, at l!ie fame time receiving, 

 throughout its whole fubftance, a deiinite portion of heat, 

 foiue ieeds requiring more than others. Atmolpherical air 

 is alfo neceffary ta the germination of feeds, on account o£ 

 the oxygen gas which makes a part of its compofition, and 

 which modern clieniifts have found to be abforbcd by feeds, 

 in tlie moments of incipient germination, from or through 

 the furrounding foil. I'liis appears from their being incapa- 

 ble of vegetation while buried deep in the earth, or while 

 under the exhaufted receiver of an air-pump ; though fuch 

 as have been fo fituated immediately grow, when the at- 

 mofphere has accefs to that part of the foil in which they 

 lie. By the above agents the bulk of the feed is increafed, 

 and its vital principle ftimulated. The integuments burll, 

 and the radicle, or young root, protrudes, which being 

 mod fufccptible of the ftimulus of moillure, for that rcafon 

 .(as Dr. Darwin ingenioufly judged,) elongates itfelf in the 

 direction where it meets with this llimulus, increafing chiefly 

 at the extremity, and defcending into the earth. It is a 

 well-known facT; that the radicle takes this direftion, in 

 wliatever pofition the feed inay happen to lie. Dr. Dar- 

 vn'n's feems to us tlie bell explanation «f this curious law of 

 the vegetable conftitution, and preferable to any one founded 

 on principles of mechanics or of gravitation. Accordingly, 

 the rudiments of the young plant, conlifting of the cotyle- 

 dons and phmiula or bud, being moft ilimulatcd by air, 

 raife themielves out of the ground, entirely for the mofl 

 part, in purfuit of it. If fome few cotyledons do remain 

 and wither under ground, it is only becaufe they have al- 

 ready met with a fufficiency of air or oxygen to anfwer 

 their dellination. See Cotyledoxes. 



During the procefs of incipient germination, the imme- 

 diately neceffary fupphcs of nourilhment, 'till the young 1 

 root can derive any from the foil, are furnilhed bv the al- 

 httmeii, a Jubilance, either conllituting a feparate body of 

 itlelf, as in graffes, corn, palms. Sec, wliich, from a hard, 

 dry, and tallelefs niafs, changes, by the action of water and 

 oxygc;!, into a milky or f;'.ccharine fluid, witaefs thcx)pera- 



tiuB 



