FRUIT. 



93 



118 



witli the hilum opposite to it ; tliis form of the ovule is called 

 Anatropiis, fi<r. us. Tlie a]»pl(' affords an exam- 

 pic and it is very conunon. A bundle ot' vessels 

 runs along the ovule from the placenta, and unites 

 with it on its opposite end ; this bundle of vessels 

 is called a Raphe, fi*^. US. n. and the |)I;ice where 

 it unites is calli'd the Chalaza, fi^^. 118,/^. In 

 other cases the ovule seems to have made but one fourth of a 

 revolution, s<i that the line joining the chalaza and foramen is 

 at right angles to the finictdus ; this j»>o/^ 

 form is called AmpJulroj)iis, 1]*^. 111). 

 In other eases tlie rapiie instead of 

 119 1 I adhering to the ovule through its 

 course, is attaciied to it only in the 

 last half of its length, this is called 

 Semiunatropus, tig. 120, and the ovule is parallel with the fa- 

 niculus. 



109. The position of the ovule in the ovary is of im- 

 portance. When it grows from the base of the ovary it is 

 called erect, wl.en from a little above the hcise ascending, when 

 it hang:i tVom tlie summit of the cavity it is jjenduloiis, and 

 when frt^n a little below the summit it is suspended, 



Fjuit. 



110. The fruit is defined, in Botany, to be the pistil or ova- 

 ry arrived iit maturity, including, sometimes, accessary 

 parts. This definition i)lainly gives greater extension to the 

 term than it has in coinm(jn language, as it includes every 

 kind of product which has the mature ovary as a compo- 

 nent. 



The normal form of tVuit and the type to which all varie- 

 ties should he reduced, woidd seem to be that in which the 

 seeds are contained in a pericarp with the carpels leaf-like in 

 their constitution and appearance, as the Hibiscus, JJean, 

 Cabbage, &c. In these eases it requires no great stretch of 

 the imagination to conceive the ovary composed of leaves 

 slightly modified, but from this type there are remarkable va- 

 riations caused by one or more of the followihg causes. The 

 suppression or hardening of parts in some, their unusual devel- 

 opment in others, and by the union of other organs with the 

 ovary, are the principle causes of \ariattoM. IJy carefully 

 noticing these occasional modifications, every variety of fruit 

 may be reduced to these simple principles. 



Before applying these principles to the explanation of par- 



