PHYSIOLOGY. ; 249 
from the evolution of plants from seeds to. their 
decay, and. briefly lay down the different results of 
all the observations hitherto made by philosophers 
on. purpose to. become thoroughly acquainted with 
the scenes of their life and decay, thus annually 
renewed, and. in such various ways. 
§ 242. 
We are already. acquainted with the nature of the 
sced, of plants, (§ 114), and we know that it serves 
the same purpose as the egg in animals, to wit, to 
contain) the. rudiments of a new being, perfectly, si- 
milar to.its:parents, waiting for a favourable oppor- 
tunity, to evolve itself. 
All plants are propagated by seeds and we can) 
‘say with Harvey, omne vivum ex ovo! It is true 
that they have not. yet been found in all’ plants, 
byt even in those in which their presence was 
formerly obstinately denied by philosophers, in 
Mosses, Fungi and. Algae, the indefatigable re- 
searches of philosophers. have, in. most of these, 
clearly proved their existence. We have, therefore, 
every reason to expect, that we shall be hereafter 
lucky, enough to point. them out in those vegetables 
in which we now only suppose them to exist. 
A seed has integuments, corcle, and cotyledons, 
(§. 114). Itas fixed, as mentioned above, by an um- 
bilical cord, and as.soon as.this separates, a cicatrice 
remains called the eye, (hilum). In its vicinity lies 
the corcle. ven: in the hardest seeds this little spot 
is the. only one, not covered by the internal hard 
membrane, ; 
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