150 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
Opening along the inner side. The ovary is inferior, three- 
celled, with many ovules in each. The style is single, and not 
capitate, or cleft. We did not observe the other portions of the 
plant, which should also be taken into consideration, if we desire 
to determine its name and position, otherwise we should have 
discovered that its leaves and flower stalk were developed from | 
a bulb, and that we have been examining the flower of an * 
endogen, which we might have suspected from the typical ] 
number being three instead of four or five, as exemplified in ' 
the three outer and three inner segments of the perianth, the : 
twice-three stamens, and the three-celled ovary. The botanist ^ 
would unhesitatingly refer our snowdrop ” to the natural 
order AmaryllidacecB. \ 
Having dissected four flowers of very different structure, it - 
will not be difficult to perform the same operation upon the ' 
same general plan with flowers belonging to twenty other 
natural orders. We may observe that we have only proposed 
to ourselves the dissection of the literal ‘^flower” or blossom ; 
other parts of the plants have been wholly disregarded. Even 
the fruits, important as they are to understand fully the dis- 
tinctions between certain groups, have not been alluded to. 
Content to pluck a flower in full bloom, dissect it, and seek 
distinctions between it and other flowers, we do not desire to 
convey the impression that the other portions of the plant are 
of no value in the determination of genera and species. Our 
object has been to indicate how the flower ” may be dissected, 
and how much may be learnt by comparison of the results of 
the dissections of various flowers. 
From the foregoing examples it will be seen that the features 
requiring particular attention are whether the sepals and petals 
are united or distinct, and whether regular or irregular ; the 
number and mode of insertion of the stamens ; the position of 
the ovary with respect to the calyx, whether superior or inferior ; 
and in what manner the ovules are borne in the ovary, whether 
the latter has one or more cells. All these queries must be 
solved with every flower, and although these alone will not be 
wholly sufficient, they are essentials. 
In the third volume of this Keview (p; 358) the Eev. Gr. 
Henslow explained a very simple and useful method adopted by 
the late Professor Henslow for obtaining the results of the dis- 
section of a flower. To this communication we would refer our 
readers as a supplement to our present observations. Some 
such plan will be useful, almost indispensable, if the examina- 
tion is to be of permanent value ; and in that paper many terms 
are explained, which the space at our disposal will not allow of 
repetition here. How to dissect a flower, and how to record 
the results of such a dissectiou, are intimately associated ; and 
