FECUNDATION. 185 
tissue, soon constitutes itself an accessory but important part of 
the plant, which is known by the name of albumen. 
Fig. Sean i a Fig. gage aera of the . Fig. ee hide the 
We have now rapidly set forth the functions of the pollen and 
the ovule in the great phenomenon which secures the perpetuity 
of the species ; but in this rapid glance at some of the most secret 
mysteries of vegetable fecundation, we have stated the facts 
without occupying ourselves with any of the external circumstances, 
that is to say, the influences acting from without, which prepare 
for it, and which determine and favour it. We now enter into 
Some details on this subject, and of some of the phenomena 
accompanying fecundation. : 
In a great number of hermaphrodite flowers, the stamens at the 
period of fecundation elevate their anthers higher than the 
stigma ; so that the pollen falls naturally upon it at the moment 
of the opening of the anthers. In other flowers, the stamens 
carry their anthers lower than the stigma, but the flower is 
habitually inclined or suspended, as in the Fuchsia; the deposition 
of the pollen on the stigma is then made without any obstacle. 
When the stamens and pistils are not close to one another, 
nature sets the necessary means to work to promote their near 
’pproach. Thus, we observe in different plants some very curious 
and varied movements in the stamens, at the period of fecundation. 
In the Nettle, the Mulberry, and the Pellitory, for instance, the 
