STUDENT YEARS 
47 
but with returning warmer seasons again awaken to 
life; that both plants and animals are barren when 
young, most fertile in middle age, but when old, waste 
away; that as Malpighi and Grew showed, plants 
have vessels, fibres, and numberless other parts, just 
like animals. From this the conclusion is drawn, 
that in plants also, organs of generation are found, 
and this Vaillant set himself to work out. That these 
organs are to be looked for in the flower follows from 
this, that no fruit is produced without previous flower¬ 
ing. The parts of the flower such as calyx or petals 
play no such role, for many plants are destitute of 
them, but yet are fruitful. What the petals specially 
accomplish is that they contribute nothing to genera¬ 
tion, but only serve as bridal beds, so splendidly 
devised by the great Creator, but furnished with such 
noble wrappings and perfumed with so many sweet 
odours, that the Bridegroom and his Bride may there 
celebrate their nuptials, with due ceremony. If one 
considers the stamens and pistils, one finds that most 
flowers possess them in the same flower, while certain 
plants have two distinct kinds on the same stalk; 
those being sterile which have only stamens, while 
those with pistils set fruit. Others again have 
stamens and pistils on different individuals. Tourne- 
fort noted certain kinds with separate sexes, and 
Linnaeus now added a number of others, whose 
descriptions he found in various authors. After a 
short statement of Vaillant’s views, and an attempt 
to show why most flowers are hermaphrodite, he sets 
forth Morland’s erroneous opinion which was pre¬ 
valent, though he could not determine how fertilization 
took place, but that it really occurs is evident in so 
many cases; in one group of plants with long styles 
and short stamens, the styles bend down when the 
stamens open and receive the pollen, after which they 
rise up again to their former position; that fertilization 
fails, or is partial only, if rain washes away the pollen, 
as with rye or fruit-trees; that in plants with both 
