The veueU turn black, and disclose their distribution throughout the 
valves, terminating in the sutures for the nourishment of the seeds. 
These vessels may be also easily seen with the naked eye by holding the 
shell up before the light. 
The peduncle, or chord, rises slender, but ends in a broad expansion, very 
succulent at first, which, as it becomes useless, withers, disclosing the hilum, 
or eye of the bean. 
In the centre of the hilum runs a vessel, which appears to divide it in 
two, at the extremity of which is an aperture . 
This aperture, or foramen, was discovered by Grew an hundred years 
ago. It is not, says he, a hole casually made, or arising from the separation 
of the stalk, but designed for a special purpose. 
It is observable not only in the common bean, and in the scarlet bean 
very plainly, but is also to be found in pease, lupins, lentils, and other pulse, 
and many seeds not reckoned of this kind, as that of fenugreek, goats-rue, 
and others, in many of which it is so small, as scarcely without the help of 
glasses to be discerned, and in some not without cutting off a part of the 
outer cover of the seed. 
This pierces the arillud, or, what is vulgarly called, the husk of the 
bean. 
The arilluj may be separated into three layers, and has its form exactly 
adapted to that of the bean. 
These harmonies have often called forth the admiration of the wise in¬ 
tentions of the Author of the Vi^orld, and proved his agency, nor ought they 
to be slightly passed over by us his creatures, whose highest prerogative is 
that of contemplating the wonders of creation, and adoring its Gracious Au¬ 
thor. 
But, before we consider the form of the arillus, let us first contemplate 
the seed it is destined to cover. 
The first thing that naturally strikes the observer, is a small projecting 
point, like the beak of a bird, called by Botanists from that resemblance 
rostellum,* opposed to which is a tender projection enclosed within the lobes, 
or body of the bean. 
* From rostellum, a beak. 
