ON THE WHITE CLOVER. 
stamens united and their flowers papilionaceous, and those 
which have their stamens separate. To the first belong all the 
most commonly recognized plants of the order, and all our 
British and European species. 
Not the least interesting feature of this leguminous family 
of plants is their seeds, the peculiar construction and ger- 
mination of which are worth attentive study. If we call to 
mind the ordinary nature of seeds, we find that they have an 
external covering, or testa, surrounding a mass of white pulp, 
or meat, as it is sometimes called, which is the substance for 
which seeds are usually taken as food. This white substance, 
known by the name of albumen, but which is by no means the al- 
bumen of the chemist, encases the little embryo plant . Chemical 
changes go on in the substance of this albumen, and the starch 
of which it is principally composed is converted into matters 
suitable for absorption by the young- plant, such as sugar and 
dextrine. The seed absorbs water from the soil in which it is 
placed, which, swelling its substance, causes it to burst its 
external case, and the little embryo plant protrudes, first down- 
wards, with its tiny radicle or root, and then upwards, with its 
little plumule or stem. Usually the outside case in which it 
was nourished, but for which it has no longer any need, remains 
in the ground and dies away. The seeds of leguminous plants, 
for the most part, differ from other seeds in the fact that they 
are destitute of this albumen or internal substance which sur- 
rounds the young- plant. In their case the embryo fills up the 
whole of the seed, and has nothing intervening between it and 
the testa. The seed consists entirely of two cotyledons, or seed- 
leaves, which cover the embryo, and which at the time of ger- 
mination separate, allowing the plumule and radicle to escape 
from between them. They then assume the form of leaves, and 
rise out of the ground with the plant itself, presenting the curious 
appearance we must all have noticed in sprouting peas or beans, 
apparently carrying up the old seed on their stems. The seeds 
of such plants as we are speaking of are, in truth, merely well 
and skilfully packed leaves or cotyledons surrounding the pre- 
cious germ of future life in the plant — the promise of perpe- 
tuity in itself. 
A very interesting and instructive experiment may easily 
be performed by soaking the seeds of any leguminous plant 
in water, and watching from day to day the development and 
growth of the young plant, and the ascension or expansion of 
its protecting cotyledons. In the Papilionaceous division of the 
order the seeds are a most important article of commerce. Under 
the name of Pulse they are valuable as food to animals and to 
man. Peas, beans, lentils, and some others, are familiar instances. 
The curious little ground-nut ( Arachis hypogea), which, when 
no. in. 2 A 
