( Ho ) 
forms they Frequently affume, to look for & 
genus where there is only a fportive variety. 
Double flowers' are the pride of a florift, as 
they manifeft the art of culture ; many of 
them being formed by over luxurlancy of 
nouriflimcnt. Gardeners imagine, that by 
placing a double flock -flower near a Angle 
one, they can thereby procure fuch feed as 
will again produce double flowers : but that 
this is a vulgar error, a very flight know- 
ledge of botany may convince us ; for, when 
a flower is completely double, it is deprived 
of it's ftamens, which commonly expand 
into petals; by which transformation the 
flower no longer poffeffes the anther-duft, or 
effential part to the fertilization of feeds. 
There arc various ways in which vegetable 
monfters are formed, moft of which generally 
exclude all, or part of the ftamens. The 
unchangeable parts of double flowers are the 
calyx, and the lower row of petals, by which 
the genus may be often difcovered. Some 
flowers are only half- double ; in which cafe 
the ftamens and piftils often remain perfect, 
and hence produce fruit. This happens in 
the double peach, the fertility of which is 
fomctimcs brought as an objection to the 
Linnean 
