STAMENS. 
93 
ferous liquid, yet there is no appearance of any gland or organ, 
by which it could have been secreted, unless we suppose the 
tube to have performed this office. 
With respect to the purpose for which honey is collected by 
the nectary and other parts of the flower, there seems among 
authors to be some difference of opinion. Darwin supposes this 
to be the food with which the stamens and pistils are nourished, 
or the unripe seeds perfected. Smith asserts, that the only use 
of honey with respect to the plant, is to tempt insects, which in 
procuring it, scatter the dust of the anthers, and fertilize the 
flower, and even carry the pollen from the barren to the fertile 
blossoms ; this is particularly the case in the fig-tree. Although 
in the case of plants whose stamens and pistils are on separate 
flowers, we see this advantage arising from the fact of insects 
being attracted by the honey, yet since the greater number of 
plants do not need this assistance in carrying their pollen to 
the stigmas, we cannot agree with Smith that the only use of 
honey is to tempt insects. With respect to the use which this 
substance may serve in the economy of the plant, it seems diffi- 
cult to determine ; some imagine that it especially contributes 
to the perfection of the stamens ; but plants without appearing 
to secrete honey, have perfect stamens. One thing however is 
certain with respect to this fluid that without detriment to the 
plant, it yields to the industrious bee the material for the manu- 
facture of honey, a luxury highly valued from the most ancient 
times. Virgil knew that bees made honey from the juices which 
they gathered from flowers ; and we indeed, on this subject 
know but little more than he has beautifully expressed in his 
pastorals. 
LECTURE XIII. 
Stamens and Pistils. 
Although the calyx and the corolla may be wanting, the sta- 
mens and pistils are indispensable to the perfection of the fruit. 
They are in most plants enclosed by the same envelope, or stand 
upon the same receptacle ; in the class Moncecia they are on 
different flowers, but from one common root ; and in Dicecia, 
they are on different flowers, springing from different roots. Yet 
however distant they may be, nature has provided many ways 
by which the pollen from the staminate flowers may be convey- 
Opiniona of different writers respecting their use — Honey. 
Stamena and Pistils necessary — 
