GEN 
That which is now fubjeded to the difquifidons and 
cenfure of fuch whofe exquifite flkill conftitutes 
them judges of fuch performances, is, Whether it may 
not be more proper to fuppofe, that tne feeds which 
are lodged in the proper involucra, are at the firft tin- 
impregnated ova (or eggs) as or ammais ; that this 
farina is a congeries of lemma! plants, one 01 which 
mull be conveyed into every ovum before it can be- 
come prolific ; that the ftylus, in Mr. Ray’s language, 
or the upper part of the piftillum, in Mr. Tourne- 
fort’s, is a tube defigned to convey thefe feminal plants 
into their nefts in the ova; that there is fo vaft apro- 
vifion made, becaufe of the odds there are,_ whether 
one, of fo many, fhall ever find its way into, and 
through fo narrow a conveyance. 
To make this fuppofition the more credible, I fhall 
lay down the obfervations I have made upon the flot- 
ation of thefe ftamina, and the ftylus, in feme few fpe- 
cies of plants. 
Firft, In the Corona Imperialis, where the uterus, or 
vafculum feminale of the plant Hands upon the center 
of the flower •, and from the top of this arifeth the 
ftylus, the vafculum feminale and ftylus together re- 
prefenting a piftillum. 
Round this are placed fix ftamina ; upon the ends 
of each of thefe are apices, fo artfully fixed, that they 
turn every way with the leaft wind, being in height 
almoft equal to the ftyles about which they play, 
and which in this plant is manifeftiy open at the 
top, as it is hollow all the way ; to which we muft 
add, that upon the top of the ftylus there is a fort 
of tuft, confiding of pinguid villi, which I imagined 
to be placed there to catch and detain the farina, as 
it flies out of the thecae ; from hence, I fuppofe, the 
wind {hakes it down the tube, till it reach the vafcu- 
lum feminale. 
In the Caprifolium, or Honeyfuckle, there rifes a fty- 
lus from the rudiments of a berry, into which it is in- 
ferted to the top of the monopetalous flower ; from 
the middle of which flower are fent forth leveral fta- 
mina, that fhed their farina out of the cafes upon 
the orifice of the ftylus, which, in this plant, is 
villous or tufted, upon the fame account as, in the 
former. 
In Allium, or common Garlic, there arifes a tricoc- 
cous uterus, or feed- veflel ; in the center of which is 
inferted a fhort ftylus, not fo high as the apices, which 
thus over- topping it, have the opportunity of fhed- 
ding their globules into an orifice more eafily •, for 
which reafon, I can difeern no tuft upon this (as in 
the former) to infure their entrance, that being pro- 
vided for by its fituation juft under them. 
The reader, I hope, will excufe me, if I prefent him 
now with fome fuch reafonings or refledions as the 
foregoing account doth fuggeft, and will fupport ; 
and I cannot but hope to perfuade thofe that are 
candid, that I have afilgned to the feveral parts of the 
flowers I have mentioned, their true and real ufe. 
For nothing can be more natural than to conclude, 
that where a fine powder is curioufiy prepared, care- 
fully repofited,, and fhed abroad at a peculiar feafon, 
where there is a tube fo placed as to be fit to receive 
it, and fuch care in difpofing this tube, where it doth 
not lie diredly under the cafes that fhed the powder, 
it hath a particular apparatus at the end, to infure its 
entrance. 
Nothing can be more genuinely deduced from any 
premiles, than it may from this, that this powder, 
or fome of it, was defigned to enter this tube. If thefe 
ftamina had been only excretory duds, as has been hi- 
therto fuppofed, to feparate the groffer parts, and leave 
the juice defigned for the nourifhment of the feed 
more referved, what need was there to lodge thefe ex- 
crements in fuch curious repofitories ? They would 
have been conveyed any where, rather than where 
there was fo much danger of their dropping into the 
feed-vefiel again, as there is here. 
Again : the tube, over the mouth of which they are 
fhed, and into which they enter, leads always diredly 
in.to the feed-vefleL 
GEN 
To which we rnuft add, that the tube always begins 
to die when thefe thecas are emptied of their contents ; 
if they laft any longer, it is only wfiilft the globules, 
which enter at their orifice, may be fuppofed to have 
finifhed their paflage. Now, can we well exped a more 
convincing proof of thefe tubes being defigned to con- 
vey thefe globules, than that they wither when there 
are not more globules to convey. 
If I could now fhew, that the ova, or unimpregnat- 
ed feeds, are ever to be observed without this feminal 
plant, the proof would arife to a demonftration ; but 
having not been fo happy as to obferve this, I fhall 
content myfelf at prefent with fuggefting, that hence 
one would conclude, that the petala of the flower were 
rather defigned to fever fuperfluous juices from what 
was left to afeend in the ftamina, than the ftamina to 
perform this office, either for them, or the unimpreg- 
nated femina, and obferve the analogy between ani- 
mal and vegetable generation, as far as was necefiary 
there fhould be an agreement between them. I fhall 
recommend the enquiry to thofe gentlemen who are 
mafters of the belt microfcopes, and addreis in ufing 
them •, though, in the mean time, I have made fome 
fteps toward a proof of this fort, and have met with 
fome fuch hints, as make me not defpair of being able, 
in a fhort time, to give the World even this fatisfadiom 
For, not to infift upon this, that the feminal plant 
always lies in that part of the feed which is always 
nearefl to the infertion of this ftylus, or fome propa- 
gation of it into the feed-veflels, I have difeovered in 
Beans, Peas, and Kidney-beans, juft under one end of 
that we call the eye, a manifeft perforation, (difcernible 
by the grofifer fort of magnifying glafles) which leads 
diredly to the feminal plant, and at which I fuppofe 
the feminal plant did enter ; and, I am apt to think, 
the Beans or Peas that do not thrive well, may, be 
found deftitute of it. 
But I muft now proceed to deferifie fome other 1 
plants, whereby it will appear, that there is a parti- 
cular care always exercifed to convey this powder, fo 
often mentioned, into a tube, which may convey it 
to the ova. , 
Now* in leguminous plants, if we carefully take off 
the petala of the flower, we fhall difeover the pod, or 
filiqua, clofely covered with an involving membrane, 
which, about the top, feparates into nine ftamina, 
each fraught with its quantity of farina ; and thefe 
ftamina clofely adhere to the ftyle, which is obferv- 
able at the end of that tube, which here alfo leads di- 
redly to the pod ; it Hands not upright, indeed, but 
fo bent, as to make near a right angle with it. 
In Roles there Hands a column, confifting of many 
tubes clofely clung together, though eafily feparable, 
each leading to their particular cell, the ftamina in a 
great number placed all round about. 
In Tithymalus, or Spurge, there rifes a tricoccous 
veflel, that,whilft it is fmall, and not eafily difcernible, 
lies at the bottom till it is impregnated, but- af- 
terwards grows up, and Hands fo high upon a tall 
pedicle of its own, as would tempt one to think, that 
there were to be no communication betwixt this and 
the apices. 
In the Strawberries and.Rafpberries, the hairs which 
grow upon the. ripe fruit (which, I fuppofe, may be 
lurprifing to fome) are lb many tubes leading each to 
their particular feed ; and therefore we may obferve, 
that in the firft opening of the flower there Hands a 
ring of ftamina, within the petala, and the whole in- 
ward area appears like a little wood of thefe hairs or 
pulp, which, when they have received and conveyed 
their globules, the feeds lwell, and rife in a carneous 
pulp. Thus far Mr. Morland. 
We may obferve a veflel at the bottom of the piftil 
of the Lily, which veflel we may call the uterus, or 
womb, in which are three ovaries filled with little 
eggs, or rudiments of feed found in the ovaria, 
which always decay, and come to nothing, unlefs im- 
pregnated with the farina of the fame plant, or fome 
other of the fame kind ; the ftamina alfo ferve for the 
conveyance of the male feed of the plant to be per- 
5 Z fedec! 
