ladies' botany and botany for ladies. 
93 
and consequently each pair of shrivelled seed- 
lobes consists of one cotyledon only." — Lindley, 
pp. 292—294. 
From these extracts it will be seen that the 
Professor's observations are not strictly limited 
to the necessary instruction for a student in 
Botany; and some of the elaborations are more 
adapted to the scholar who is far advanced ; 
nevertheless, those who commence the book, 
and go patiently through it, will have learned 
enough to make Botany a very delightful 
study and recreation. Mrs. Loudon less ela- 
borately, perhaps as plainly, describes some of 
the most important orders and their genera ; 
and then, as we before observed, gives us the 
leading features of the whole two hundred and 
twenty orders, scientifically arranged; and our 
quotation shall be from one of these : — 
" The order Violaceas, though not a large 
one, contains several genera, but the most 
interesting is the genus Viola, which includes, 
among -many other species, the Sweet Violet 
{Viola Odoruta), and the Heartsease ( V. Tri- 
color). The flowers of both species have many 
claims to admiration, but they do not add the 
charm of regularity in construction to their 
other attractions, as, in fact, few flowers are 
less symmetrical. The flowers of both are 
nearly alike in their details; but to avoid con- 
fusion, I will describe them separately. The 
calyx of the Heartsease consists of five pointed 
distinct sepals, two of them rather smaller 
than the others. These sepals are not attached, 
as in most other plants, at their base, but so 
as to leave nearly a quarter of their length 
standing up, far beyond the place where they 
are fixed to the receptacle, so as to form a 
sort of border or cup round the stem, and 
between it and the flower. The sepals are 
green, but they are edged with a delicate 
whitish membrane at the margin, scarcely to 
be seen without a microscope. There are five 
petals, which are also irregular in their con- 
struction, two of them being much larger than 
the others, and generally of a different colour; 
and one even of the other three being quite 
different in form to its companions. The two 
large petals at the back of the flower, which 
in the common Heartsease are generally dark 
purple, are laid over each other, and behind 
the two below them. These two side-petals, 
which form the centre of the flower, are both 
furred at the base ; and the lower petal, which 
is placed between them, has its claw drawn 
out behind into a spur, which passes between 
two of the sepals; and which, when the flower 
is looked at from behind, appears to be part 
of the calyx. The furred part of the two 
side-petals forms a triangular, roof-like open- 
ing, peeping out of which is seen a small 
pale-green ball-like substance, which a fanciful 
imagination might liken to a head looking 
through a dormer window ; and this is all that 
is to be scon in place of the usual apparatus 
of stamens and pistils. As all seed-producing 
flowers must have stamens and pistils, and as 
it is well known that Heartseases and Violets 
do produce seed in abundance, it is clear that 
these important organs are not wanting ; but 
where are they ? It is easy to guess, after being 
so far initiated in the mysteries of Botany, that 
the little globular body is a part of the pistil ; 
but where are the stamens ? It is necessary 
to pull the flower to pieces to discover them. 
Commencing this work of destruction, which 
1 always feel remorse at perpetrating, for I 
love flowers too well not to feel pain at 
destroying them ; commencing this work, I 
repeat, the petals and the sepals must be 
carefully removed from the stem ; a task of 
some little difficulty, as both sepals and petals 
are firmly attached to the receptacle, and the 
lower petal must have its spur opened with a 
pin to avoid hurting the delicate organs it 
contains. When the outer coverings of calyx 
and corolla are thus both removed, the seed- 
producing organs will be discovered, and it 
will be found that they consist of five very 
curiously-formed stamens, with as singular a 
pistil, in their centre. The stamens have no 
apparent filaments, and the anthers, which 
seem to be inserted in the receptacle, look 
like seeds, each tipped with a bit of brown 
skin, and having what appears to be a white 
rib in front. This rib is the anther ; and the 
broader part is the dilated filament, which is 
drawn out beyond it, on both sides, and above, 
so as to form the brown tip above the anther 
already mentioned. Two of the anthers have 
each, in addition to these peculiarities, a long 
tail, which the spur of the lower petal con- 
cealed, when the flower was in a perfect state. 
The pistil consists of a large ovary, full of 
ovules, with a narrow style, which is drawn 
out into the hollow globular termination which 
is seen through the triangular opening in the 
flower. The globe has an opening in front, 
under which is a kind of lip, which looks like 
a shutter let down to show the opening ; and 
though, from its thick fleshy nature, it looks 
like a stigma, it is only the outer covering of 
that organ, for the stigma lies within the 
opening. In this manner the stigma and 
anthers are completely concealed ; and thus it 
Avill be seen, that nothing can be more com- 
plex and intricate than the construction of 
the flowers of the Heartsease. 
" Who could suppose that all these elaborate 
details would be necessary, to illustrate so 
simple a flower as that of the Violet ? And yet 
the construction of the flowers of the Violet 
and those of the Heartsease are essentially the 
same. The sepals of the Violet are extended 
