OF FOREST-TUEES. 



137 



Butthereare divers kinds of these ^uAocpayo:, of which the teredo, already CHAP. Vll. 

 mentioned, will sometimes make such a noise in a tree, as to awaken a '■^r-*^ 

 sleeping man. The more rugous are the cossi, of old had hi deUciis 

 amongst the epicures, who used to fatten them in flour ; and this (as 

 Tertullian and S. Hierom tell us) was the chief food of the HierophantiB 

 Cereris, as they are this day a great regalo in Japan : in the mean time, 



cerning some minute species of insects, that they had neither feet, nor eyes, nor mouth, 

 nor genitals, because we cannot discover them with the naked eye. Bobart sowed the 

 seeds of Ferns, which gi'ew very well. Plumier discovered the flowers in some of the Fern 

 kind, and the same may be easily investigated in the Trichomanes of Linnasus. Linnaeus 

 discovered the seeds of Mosses ; and in the Polt/trichum we have pretty clear signs of both 

 sexes. In the Licopodium Selaginoides, or Prickly Club-moss, Linnseus observed, that one 

 part of the fructification contained the fertilizing dust, and the other the seeds ; which 

 were evident signs that the plant had both flower and fruit. B. Jussieu traced the flowers 

 of the P?7«Zar?a or Pepper-grass. Reaumur discovered the fructification in the Fuci. Lin- 

 neeus numbered the stamina and pisiilla in the Jungermannia Epiphylla, or Broad-leaved 

 Jungermannia. Valisnerius has delineated in the Lemna, or Duck's-meat, the calyx, the stamina, 

 ,the pistillum, the capsula, and the seeds. Michelius has frequently numbered the stamina of 

 the Fungi, and has sown their seeds, which grew very well. Nov. Gen. Tab. 6'8, 73, and 

 .74. Hence, therefore, we may conclude, that these lowest tribes of vegetables are 

 all furnished with flowers and fruit, although, by reason of their exceeding minute- 

 ness, they have not hitherto been distinctly known to botanists. In short, thei'e never 

 was a clear and evident example produced of any plant which wanted flowers and fruit ; 

 and therefore we may justly say, that in their fructification consists the essence of 

 plants. 



Universal experience attests, that the flower always precedes or goes before the fruit, 

 in the same manner as generation precedes birth in animals ; so that not one example 

 of the contrary can be produced in any individual. The Colcliicum Autvmnale, or Meadow- 

 saffron, flowers in the autumn, but the fruit, with the stem and leaves, appears the follow- 

 ing summer in the months of May and June. The Hasel puts forth its flowers early in the 

 spring, but ripens its fruits or nuts in August. In a word, the flowers always come before 

 the fruit in every plant without exception. 



Since in animals all generation precedes the birth, and in vegetables every flower pre- 

 cedes the fruit, we must necessarily ascribe fecundation to the flower, and the birth or ex- 

 clusion of the seed to the ripe fruit. 



Hence we may define a flower to be the genital organs of a plant serving for fecun- 

 dation, and the fruit to be the genital organs serving for the birth or maturation of the 

 seed. There has been much dispute among botanists concerning the definition of a 

 flower ; many have asserted that the essence of a flower consisted in the corolla or petals ; 

 this opinion Knautius embraced, and also denied that there ever were any flowers destitute 

 of petals. Our senses tell us, that there are many plants, some of which want the calyx, 

 as the Tulip, Fritillary, &c. others the corolla, as the Grasses, Cat's-tail, Bur-reed, and 



