ELEMENTARY BOTANY. 
Tue Seed being a very constant product, and one of 
the most important organs of a plant, an examination 
of its general structure will furnish a good subject 
with which to commence the study of Botany :— 
1. On examining a Pea or a broad Bean, (pl. i. f. 1. 
h.) a mark or scar will be found at one end, which 
indicates the point or part by which the seed was 
attached to the parent plant, this is called the hilum; 
through it the nourishment needful for perfecting 
the seed was conveyed to it from the plant. The 
smooth white coat which covers the seed can be 
removed by soaking it in warm water for a short space 
of time, and then the following parts will be apparent: 
the shell or testa, which is of a lighter colour within ; 
the kernel, which is white and can be readily separated 
into two portions of equal size; these two are termed 
the seed-lobes, of which one only is to be seen in f. 2 
and 8. At that part of these seed-lobes which is 
nearest to the scar (or hilum) on the shell, may be 
B 
