¥ 
13° 
delicate tafte and an ardent love of the 
arts. Hetook a very zeabous and active 
part in promoting the fucceis of this expe- 
dition, of which he hdd the direction in 
the name of Lord Elgin. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
BSERVING, in your valuable Mif- 
cellany for May laft, an account of 
the lite of Gzriner, I prefume the direc- 
tions given by tnat celebrated naturalift, 
for the examination of feeds, &c. may 
not prove unacceptable to your botanical 
veaders Mg 
<< Dried fruits fhould, previoufly to 
examination, be foaked for fome time in 
tepid water, invrder to-foften and diftend 
the pericarp ; after which the feeds ought 
to be feparated from it, and replinged 
nto the waté. ‘When not fuffici ntly 
ripe, they Smal {wim ; but, on the con- 
trary, when arrived at their full maturity, 
they will be found uniformly to fall to the 
bottom: a fingular fact, which’ holds 
equally true of all feeds, from the cocoa- 
nut to the orchis. If the ficds be con- 
tained ina hard ftone, or fhell, it ought to 
be broken before they are put into the 
water; andthe teguments fhould be af- 
terwards removed with a very fine pen- 
knife. After remaining fome hours longer 
in the water, a feed may then be divided 
tranfverfely ; and if-an opening extend 
from one fide of the divifion to the other, 
it evidently belongs to thofe which are 
termed dicotyiedonous, or which are fur- 
nifhed with two feed-lobes. 
When this opening does not appear, 
we may fafely conclude that there is a 
perifperm, and endeavour to difcover in 
what place the embryo is fituated. With 
this intention the perifperm muft be raifed 
in {mall lamellz, until the embryo appear, 
which may be dittinguifhed by a greenifh 
‘tint; it is eafily detached, and finks to 
the bottom of the water. 
If the feed he too fmall to admit of 
thefe fections, it is heceflary to immerfe it 
in effential oil of turpentine, which. ufu- 
ally penetrates the perifperm, efpecially 
when not of a farinaceous nature, and 
renders it tranfparent, whilf the embryo 
‘remains opaque. Expofed in this ftate to 
the focus of a good lens, cr microfeope, 
its different parts are veadily diftinguithed. 
Tt is very difficult to analyze thofe feeds 
that have a gelatinous perifperm. They 
fhould be put into fpirits of wine, which 
will render the perifperm folid. The 
% 
DireAims for the Examination of Seeds. 
fAug. 1, 
fame means will likewife fucceed in giving 
confiftency to particular pericarps, when 
our object “is to afcertain in what manner 
the fees ave attached. Thus the berries 
of the firatiotes and calla Aithioptca, 
- which are tran{fparent as the vitreous hu- 
mour of theeye, become, when put into 
{piri s of wine, opaque, like the white of 
an egg, but recover their tranfparency on 
being ve-immerfed in the water. In. ge- 
neral, when the embryo, the vitellus, and 
the perifperm, are of 2 homogeneous co- 
lour, they may readily be ciftinguifhed 
when the feed is foaked in effential oil of 
turpentine, or in fpirits of wine, the ac- 
tion of which ts not the fame on all the 
different parts. 
Travellers who colle& fruits, fhould 
always gather them when perfeétly ripe. 
If they be furrounded with a very large 
pulpy pericarp, it will be proper to pre~ 
ferve them in fpirits cf wine. In order 
to. facilitate the driving of the feeds, or 
nuts, they fhould afterwards be freed from 
this pericarp, and put into bags, or cor- 
nets of paper, along witha {mall quantity 
of fulphur, or camphor, to preierve them 
from infects. Tne bags fhould then be 
carefully fhut, and inclofed in others mace 
of oiled.paper, to prevent te accefs of 
the external air. Cirizen Foureroy pre- 
fers, for this purpofe, paper that has been 
immerfed for fome time ina folution of 
tar, which, it is affirmed, infeGis are ne-— 
ver known to penerate. Along with the 
feed, flowers containing the fecundated 
ovaries fhould likewile be examined, in 
order to afcertain the number of the cells, 
fince it is well known that in agreat num- 
ber of pericarps with feveral embryos, a 
fingle feed ripens and prevents the appear- 
ance of the others; as, for example, in 
the oak, the lime-tree, &c. We cannot 
even afcertain with certainty, from the 
infpection of the fruit alone, whether the 
ovary be inferior, or fuperior, a circum- 
ftance which may produce very important 
errors.” 
Church row, Hampfiead, — ~ 
_ 24th Fuge, 1803. 
For the Monthly Magazine. 
DIRECTIONS for pradciifing the VACCINE- 
INOCULATION, Jately drawn up by 
DR. GEORGE PEARSON, aad circulated 
_ by the INSTITUTION, founded DECEM- 
BER, 1799- 
I. HE limpid matter fhould be taken 
from a decidedly characterized 
cow-pock,which is proceeding, apparently, 
_ through 
