21 
SECT. V. 
OF THE COMPONENT PARTS OF THE SEED. 
„..In thy book 
Was the fair model of each structure drawn, 
Where every part, in just connexion join’d. 
Composed and perfected th’ harmonious piece. 
Ere the dim speck of being learnt to stretch 
Its ductile form, or entity had known 
To range and wanton in an ampler space. 
Pitt. 
The seed is defined by Linnaeus to be the end of fructification, and the 
beginning of a new plant; or that portion of the maternal plant which is de¬ 
ciduous, containing within itself the rudiments of a new vegetable. 
There are several Parts noticed by Botanists which enter into the com¬ 
position of the seed. 
■ As the bean exhibits these in the clearest manner, let us examine one of 
them; for example, the common broad Windsor-Bean. 
The pod of the bean, as you have before learnt, is a Legume , composed 
of two valves, which were the pieces, or shells, which the bean divides into, 
filled with the softest down , which appears, viewed by the microscope, to be 
a cluster of blebs, or bladders.* 
When the bean-pod opens naturally, it splits from its under border , or 
suture. 
The upper suture, which readily divides into two parts, is an assemblage 
of filaments, or vessels, to which the beans themselves are attached by a 
slender peduncle , or thread. 
The valves, if suffered to remain a few days in the house, especially if 
handled, shew a beautiful organization. 
* Tide the Plates of the Anatomy of the Bean. 
G 
/C <rz 
