C.— ANALYTICAL DRAWINGS OF THE 
WALLFLOWER EAMILY. 
[Cruciferce.) 
W HEN the study of Botany was merely ancillary to that of medicine, the test 
of taste was more universally applied, and a knowledge of properties thus 
ascertained assisted the then limited knowledge of structure in guiding the student 
to the true affinities of plants. Though the CrucifercB have, almost without exception, 
six stamens, the difference in length between them which formed the basis of Linne’s 
Class T etr adynamia is not always obvious. The cruciform corolla, however, and the 
remarkable fruits, in which, in most cases, two valves separate from below upwards, 
leaving a transparent septum with the seeds attached to its framework, naturally 
attracted attention at an early period ; and, coupled with the pungent taste and 
antiscorbutic value of the plants, led to the recognition of a natural relationship 
between them. 
As our knowledge has increased, it has been realised that this is a very natural 
Family, especially in the number and arrangement of the parts of the flower. In all 
our British representatives of the group there are four sepals in two pairs, the outer 
antero-posterior, the inner lateral; four petals in one whorl placed diagonally; two 
shorter lateral stamens and two pairs of longer ones, each pair placed on either side of 
the median plane ; and finally two lateral carpels united into a dry fruit with parietal 
placentation but divided longitudinally by the partition mentioned above. 
Among the minor characters upon which we are accordingly thrown back tor 
the subdivision of the Family into Tribes and genera, the most obvious are the 
relative length and breadth of the fruit, and the direction of the septum across it, 
other valuable differentiae, dependent on the structure of the embryo, being less 
conspicuous. 
Of the nine types analysed on this Plate, the first line of figures represents the 
Scurvy-grass {Cochlearia officinalis Linn^), Fig. i being a flower, and Fig. 2 a petal, 
natural size ; Fig. 3, a flower magnified, and Fig. 4, the same in longitudinal section ; 
Fig. 5 is the stamens and gynaeceum, also enlarged ; Fig. 6, a young fruit, natural 
size ; Fig. 7, the same enlarged ; Fig. 8, a fruit dehiscing naturally ; and Fig. 9, a 
transverse section across the same, both being enlarged. 
The second line of figures represents the Penny Cress (Thlaspi arvense Linn6), 
Fig. I being a flower, natural size ; Fig. 2, a petal ; Fig. 3, a sepal ; Fig. 4, the 
essential organs ; Fig. 5, the young gynaeceum ; Fig. 6, a flower, after fertilisation, 
all enlarged ; Fig. 7, an unripe fruit, natural size ; and Fig. 8, the same torn open 
so as to show the seeds. 
The third line of figures represents the Garlic Mustard {Alliaria officinalis 
Andrzejowski), Fig. i being a flower, and Fig. 2, a petal, natural size ; Fig. 3, the 
