left side of the heart to be put in circulation. The time occupied in this circulation may be eighty, a hundred, or a hundred and twenty seconds of time. sixty pounds, he would have in his body two-and-thirty pounds of blood; and if we allow seventy-five pulsatione to a minute, then if we multiply these seventy-five pulsaEach of the cavities of the heart presents alternately two tions by the two ounces of blood propelled at each contracopposite states-one of dilatation, and the other of contraction. tion of the ventricles, we shall find that at least one hunDuring the relaxation, the walls permit the cavity to be filled dred and fifty ounces of blood must pass through each. and distended by the introduction of the blood; but during ventricle of the heart in that short space of time. At this rate the contraction, the walls diminish in their length, energetically it would require more than three minutes and a half to perform approach each other till they come close together, force out all the entire circulation. It may, however, be effected in oncthe blood, and leave no cavity whatever. Let us try to under-third of that time. stand this. Let us suppose that the left auricle is filled and distended by the flowing in of arterialized blood from the four pulmonary veins; it suddenly and energetically contracts, and by expelling the blood ceases to present a cavity: it so happens that at the very same instant the left ventricle is in a state of relaxation, and its walls offering no resistance to the introduction of the blood, the blood by means of a free opening which enables the cavity of the ventricle to communicate with the cell of the auricle, briskly flows into the ventricle and fills it. We have something more to say of the blood-of its composition and its use-but we must reserve it for our next lesson. QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. What provision do we find in the body for the circulation of the blood? How is the heart divided, and of how many cavities does consist? How are these cavities situated in relation to each other, and what are their names? Why is the superior cavity called an auricle, and the inferior cavity a ventricle? Do these cavities communicate with each other, and in what way? What great artery arises from the left ventricle, and whither does it reach in its ramifications? What artery arises from the right ventricle, and to what does it extend? of progress. Give the two systems of arteries in their origin and How is the blood returned from the lungs? Give the two systems of veins in their origin and progress. When is the direction of the blood centripetal, and when centrifugal? But how is the blood which has thus passed into the ventricle prevented from flowing back into the auricle if there be a free passage between those two cavities? To provide against this there exists in the heart itself a beautiful little apparatus which hermetically seals this opening at the very same moment that the ventricle contracts. If you will carefully examine the two engravings (see page 68) you will the better be able to discover how this little apparatus works. In the engraving to the left you have the ventricle laid open, and you trace a ring composed of strong tendon, very tough and without extension, whose superior border (a) surrounds the free passage between the ventricle and the auricle, and whose inferior border plunges into the cavity of the ventricle itself. This inferior border gives attachment to two series of firm, yet strong cords, the one () anterior, and the other (e) posterior, and which are seen to fix themselves in the summit of two muscular columns (df) detatched from the anterior and posterior walls of the cavity. Each of these two columns exhibits two juttings or projections, separated by a little gutter. Look now at the engraving on the right, and you will see that at the moment of contraction those two columns (df) approach each other till they come into contact, and embrace each other in such a manner, that the right projection of the anterior column fills up the gutter of the posterior column, and the left projection of the posterior column fills up the gutter of the anterior column. The two columns are now seen to make but one. The cords, bent by the abridgment or shortening of the columns, have been drawn out, and with them the inferior edge of the tendon-culation? ous ring, in such a manner that the cords have become vertical, the ring drawn together, folded and knit, and closed like the mouth of a purse. What are the two conditions in which the blood is found to cxi 1 in the human body? What becomes of the venous blood? Has each cavity of the heart the power to dilate and contract? How is the blood prevented from flowing back after it has emptied itself from one cavity into another? Why are the walls of the left ventricle thicker than the right ? How long does it require for the blood to perform an entire ci LESSONS IN LATIN.-No. IV. By JOHN R. BEARD, D.D. NOUNS, SUBSTANTIVE AND ADJECTIVE-Continued. WE now pass on to the several declensions. By declension you know, is meant the manner of forming the cases of But this is not all. To this tendonous ring, which encircles the orifice or opening between the auricle and ventricle, there is fixed the base of a valve, which in the left division of the heart is called the mitral valve, from its likeness to a bishop's mitre. This valve is brought into action at the moment in which the ventricle begins to contract. noun. As the contracting walls of the ventricle press on the blood, the valve is pressed up by it towards the opening between the two cavities of the auricle and the ventricle, and completely closes it. Or, if possible, to put it in yet simpler words, the flaps of the valve, which are completely thrown Cases. Singular. back during the rush of blood from the auricle to the ventricle, are now drawn into a position to allow the blood to get behind them and bring them together, so as completely to close the passage. The walls of the left ventricle are considerably thicker than those of the right, and their power of contraction is greater. This difference, which is as three to one, is required by the force necessary to drive the blood into the aorta, and through this large artery into every part of the body. It requires but little force to send the blood into the pulmonary vessels. We have seen that the heart has four distinct cavities. Now each of these cavities is nearly equal in capacity-cach of them in the full-sized heart holding about two ounces of fluid. This, therefore, is the quantity of blood which is sent forth at each successive contraction of the ventricles. The whole quantity of blood seems to be about one-fifth of the entire weight of the body. Suppose a man to weigh one hundred and FIRST DECLENSION. Sign AE in the Genitive Singular LATIN. Nom. -ă ENGLISH. Gen. -ãe ENGLISH (subject) of Dat. Here you may remark that in the singular two case-endings are the same-namely, those of the nominative and the vocative, both being a; and that in the plural taken with the singular, four case-endings are the same-namely, in the plural those of the nominative and the vocative; in the singe lar, the genitive and the dative. This undoubtedly is a defect in the language. By practice only can you learn in reading to ascertain which, in any particular instance, the writer intended; the difficulty, however, is not so great as you mighɛ imagine, Acc. Mensam, a table Acc. Mensas, tables Voc. Mensa, O table! Voc. Abl. Mensa, by a table Mensarum, of tables Mensae, O tables! ENGLISH-LATIN, The plants flourish; the storm injures the plant; plants are injured by the storm; frogs are swallowed by the stork; the earth produces plants: plants are produced by the earth; O plants! how beautifully are you produced by the earth; I praise abundance of water; the storm moves the vatoss; the waters are moved by the storm. After having learnt each vocabulary, you will do well to try to ascertain what words in it have representatives in English. Mensa is thus seen to consist of two parts. These two These English representatives (denoted by the initials E. R.) are words in English derived more or less direcdy from the parts are the stem mens, and the case-endings. To the stem mens add the several case-endings, and you form the several corresponding Latin words. Thus, from aqua we have E, R. cases. Thus, if to mens you subjoin am, you obtain the accu-E. R. herb; from praca we have E. R. prey; from terra we aquatis; from copia, we have E. R. copious; from herba we have sative singular; if to mens you add arum, you obtain the have E. R. terrene, &c. You will soon acquire skill in dis genitive plural; and so on with the rest. covering the E. R. in all cases, and in the discovery you will gain an aid to memory, as well as an insight into the exact never allow a Latin word to pass you without endeavouring original meaning of many English words. Indeed, you should to ascertain whether it has any E. R., and if any, whether one or more, what they are, and what their signification. This you will see exemplified in the following example: Adjectives in the feminine gender are declined like mensa DECLENSION OF SUBSTANTIVE AND ADJECTIVE. FIRST DECLENSION, FEMININE GENDER. Singular. Bona puella, a good girl Bonae puellae, of a good girl Bonae puellae, to a good girl Bonam puellam, a good girl Bond puella, by a good girl Bona puella, O good girl EXERCISES.-After the same manner write out and learn by heart, pulchra columba, a beautiful pigeon; quadrata mensa, a square table; magna praeda, great booty. Before you proceed further, you should make yourself perfectly master of the case-endings and the example. Exercise yourself in giving from memory any case-ending you may please to require; also in giving the corresponding English sign. Observe that in the example, after the word mensa, ae, stand 1 and fem. Here 1 with a noun denotes the first declension, as afterwards 2 with a noun will denote the second declension, 3 with a noun the third declension, and so on; f.or fem. denotes the feminine gender, and intimates that mensa is a noun of the feminine gender. It may appear strange to you that a thing which in English is of the neuter "gender," as being without sex, should Cases. in Latin be of the feminine gender. So, however, it is. In Latin, Nom one way of determining gender is by the termination. Thus Gen. Dat. all nouns ending in a (with an exception which will be Acc. pointed out by-and-by), are of the feminine gender. And as all nouns ending in a are of the first declension, so all nouns Voc. of the first declension are of the feminine gender. EXERCISES: Like mensa, a table, decline aquila, an eagle; puella, a girl; columba, a dove; alauda, a lark; and insula, an island. I mean that you should write these out like the example mensa, from memory, distinguishing the case-endings and subjoining the English to each case of each noun. VOCABULARY. Aqua, water; ciconia, a storky copia abundance; herba, an herb; planta, a plant; praeda, prey; procella, a storm; rana, a frog terra, the earth; coaxo, 1, I croak; devoro, 1, I devour; turbo, 1, I disturb; noceo, 2, I injure; gigno, 3, I produce; pulchre, adv. (adverb), beautifully; saepe, adv., often; quam, adv., how! a, pre. preposition), by; note that a becomes ab, for the sake of sound, efore a vowel or a silent h. EXERCISES.-LATIN-ENGLISH. Rana coaxat; rana caepe est praeda ciconiae; ciconia nocet ranac; ciconia devorat ranam; Orana, coaxas; aqua turbatur a rana: plantae forent; terra vestitur copia plantarum; procellae nocent plantis; terra gignit plantas; O plantae, quam pulchre ornatis ferram! teria vez Itur plantis. On this cxercise, I must give a few words of explanation. In the sentence ciconia nocet range, you have the object in the dative case. Generally the object is in the accusative case, but noceo is one of the verbs which govern their object in the dative instead of the accusative case, as will be more fully set forth hercat.cr. After the passive verb turbatur, you have the instrument rand with the preposition a, whereas after the passive verb vestitur, you have copia without the preposition. The reason is that in Latin when the instrument is a person or living creature, the preposition a is usual; but it is not used when, as in the second case, the instrument is a thing, that is, something without life. Vestitur is not given in the vocabulary to this declension, because it has been given Lefore. Here, as in other instances, words, the English of which has been previously stated, are repeated without the English, in order to secure attention and to assist the memory by repetition. As the English sign of the dative is to or for, so you must use the one or the other as the sense requires. And as the English sign of the ablative is by, with, or from, so must you use either by, or with, or from, according as the English idiom requires. Abl. Est mihi pulchra alauda; est ne tibi pulchra alauda? mea alauda est pulchra; est ne mea alauda pulchra ? on ne cet tua alauda pulchra? tua columba velle est pulchra; est mihi bona ancilla; mea ancilla est pulchra; Julia est Augusta; Julia Augusta est pulchra; est ne Julia Augusta pulchra alanda meae ancille est pulchra; tua mensa non est quaciata; magna est in^ula. ENGLISH-LATIN. I have not a gordil; thy i In dea, a goddess, and filia, a daughter, the dative and the ablative end in abes, instead of is; thus, deabus, to or by the goddesses; filiabus, to or by the daughters. This change is made in order to distinguish the darive and ablative cases of these feminine nouns from the arme cases of the corresponding masculine nouns, viz., deus, a god; which has deis or diis, il the dative and ablative; and filius, a son, which has fls. Nouns of the first declension which denote male beings arc of the masculine gender (denoted by m). This fact remains & fact though the termination of those nouns should happen to be feminine. Thus nauta, a sailor, is masculine, though its termination is the same as that of mensa, a table, and puelle. a girl. Masculine nouns of the first declension are decline like feminine nouns of the first declension. Observe, however, that they take their adjectives in the masculine; that is the adjectives agree not in form but in sense with these mascu line nouns of the first declension, as in the following example: Navigo, 1, I sail; lando, 1, I praise; erro, 1, I wander, I err; equito, 1, I ride; magnopere, greatly; equa, -ae, a mare; tristitia, -ae, sadness; poeta, -ae, m., a poet; umbra, -ae, a shade; silva, -ae, a wood; perfuga, ac, m., a deserter; Jugurtha, Jugurtha, an African prince; auriga, -ae, m., a charioteer; ad, to; per, through; patria, -ae, one's native country, fatherland. EXERCISES.-LATIN-ENGLISH. Pérfuga Jugurthae est mihi; malus pérfuga est tibi; poetam bonum laudo; bonus poeta laudatur; equa laudatur ab aurigà: nautae ad insulam navigant; boni nautae patriam laudant; aquila a poetis saepe laudatur; agricolae magnopere delectantur plantis; erras, O nauta! non ne erratis, aurigae? tristitia poetarum bonorum est mihi; umbras silvarum magnopere amo; agricolae per silvam equitant. 11 ENGLISH-LATIN Hast thou a deserter? is the deserter bad? good poets are praised; I praise good poets; good husbandmen praise (their) native country; the native country of good poets is praised; the pirate rides through the wood; the sailors sail to the island; the raare of the good charioteer is good. The second declension is known by the ending of the genitive singular ini. The terminations of the nominative are us, er, ir, and um; of these terminations us, er, ir, are masculine, and um is neuter; that is, nouns ending in us, er, ir, are of the masculine gender, and nouns ending in um are of the neuter gender. SECOND DECLENSION. Voc. ě, ĕr, ir, um, Voc. í, Abl. 18, Abl. 0! by, &c. to or for (object) 01 by, with or from A few remarks will make the meaning of the above table clear. First let us speak of the singular. In the nominative there are four terminations. The arrangement is meant to show that of all these four i is the genitive-ending, and o the dative-ending. In the nominative plural, there are two terminations. The arrangement is meant to show that of both these orum is the genitive-ending, and is the dative-ending. The dative-ending and the ablative-ending is the same, being in the singular o, and in the plural is. In both the singular and the plural, three cases are alike in nouns ending in um. These three cases are the nominative, the accusative, and the vocative, which in the singular end in um and in the plural a. subjoin an instance of each of the four terminations, thus: us, a garden, has the first termination; puer, a boy, the nd; vir, a man, the third; bellum, war, the fourth. EXAMPLES IN THE SECOND DECLENSION. Singular. puer, a boy G. D. horti, of a garden horto, to a garden pueri, of a boy puero, to a boy Ac. hortum, a garden puerum a boy V. horte, O garden puer, boy, Ab. horto, by a garden puero, by a boy Adjectives have terminations similar to the nouns of the first and second declension. Thus bonus, good, is declined like hortus, a garden, in the following manner :Cases. Singular. Cases. N. bonus hortus, a good garden VOCABULARY. Schola, -ae, f., school; ludus, i, m., play; magister, magistri, m., a master; ripa, -ae, f., a river's bank; peregrinus, i, ., a stranger; amicus, i, m., a friend; amica, -ae, f., a female friend; m., a boar; caper, capri, m., a goat; regnum, i, n., a kingdom, discipulus, i, m., a scholar; epistola, -ae, f., a letter; aper, apri, funestum, i, n., deadly; in (with the ablative case), in or on (with the accusative) into; multi, many; Britannia, Britain. EXERCISES.-LATIN-ENGLISH. Boni viri bonos pueros amant; boni pueri amantur a bonis viris ; bonus puer scholam amat; boni magistri bonorum puerorum amantur; est ne tibi bonus magister? funestum est bellum; est mihi bona amica; pueri sunt in schola; non ne sunt pueri in schola?- peregrini multi in Britanniam navigant; aper amici mei est magnus; est ludus in ripâ; discipuli epistolas amant; ranae sunt in ripis; caper est magnus; bella funesta sunt in insule. ENGLISH-LATIN. I love good scholars; good scholars are loved by good men ; dost thou love a friend? I have a boar; thou hast a goat; the goats are on the river's bank; a great and deadly war is in the island; many fields are in Britain; boars are often deadly; O men, do you love the boys? my friends do not love strangers; boys love play; do boys leve play? have you a female friend? I have not a large boar; the letter of my female friend is in the garden. of what are called their termination, as amplus, ampla, amplum, We are now in a condition to decline and study adjectives, large or spacious. Amplus, you see, is like hortus; ampla is like mensa; and amplum is like bellum. In fact amplus is of the masculine gender, and is declined like a noun masculine of the second declension; ampla is of the feminine gender, and is declined like a noun feminine of the first declension; and amplum is of the neuter gender, and is declined like a clension of amplus, a, um. Like it are declined all adjectives noun neuter of the second declension. I subjoin the full deending in us, a, um; which are said to have three terminations from the fact that such three terminations, us a, um, &c., they really have. ADJECTIVES OF THREE TERMINATIONS OF THE FIRST AND EXAMPLE:-Amplus, m.; ampla, f.; amplum, n.; large N. amplus ampla amplum Ac. amplum amplam amplum amplos amplas ample V. ample ampla amplum amplo amplo ample amplis This form and other similar forms I advise you to learn by heart in three ways; first vertically, that is from top to bottom; you will thus see the identity in form of the adjective with the corresponding noun. Then learn it from the left hand to the right; thus amplus, ampla, amplum; learning the singular first and then the plural. Finally learn the case-by their sons and their daughters. N. G. D. Ac. V. Ab. flies are (there are flies) in the beautiful garden; thou intrustest the horse to the field; good scholars are honoured. O my son. temples are intrusted to the gods and goddesses; O, Antony, the gods and goddesses are worshipped in temples; O good God! thou art worshipped in the fruitful fields; good men are honoured QUESTIONS FOR EXAMINATION. endings in the same two ways; thus us, i, o, um, e, 0 ; and N. us, a, um, &c. You cannot bestow too much pains in making yourself perfectly familiar with each declension, each example, each forin, as you go forward. There is a good Latin maxim which says "festina lente," literally hasten slowly, or as the English proverb says "slow but sure." In grammati-ration; copiousness; exemplary. Ascertain by the aid of the Latin cal studies the observance of the proverb is very serviceable. The adjective liber, free, is declined like the noun puer. The adjective pulcher, fair or beautiful, is declined like the noun ager. Liber in the feminine gender is libera, and libera is declined like mensa. In the neuter gender, it is liberum, and liberum is declined like bellum. I will give you the forms in full of both liber, libera, liberum, and pulcher, pulchra, pulchrum. pulchrae pulchra D. pulcher pulchra pulchrum pulchri N.B.-The ch is pronounced like k, thus, pulker, pulkra, pulkrum, &c. EXERCISES.-Form, according to the models just given, pulcher hortus, a beautiful garden; femina bona, a good woman; exemplum bonum, a good example; vir magnus, a great man; ovum magnum, a large egg; ager fecundus, a fruitful field; liber puer, a free boy; scriba bonus, a good writer. Filius, a son, makes in the vocative singular fili, and meus in the vocative singular makes mi, as, O mi fili! O my son! but filia, a daughter, makes in the vocative singular filia, and meum in the neuter makes meum, as, O mea filia! O my daughter! O meum officium! O my duty! Proper names ending in ius have i in the vocative singular, as Tullius, O Tulli; Virgilius, O Virgili; Mercurius, O Mercări; Antonius, O Antoni. Deus, God, has in the vocative singular deus; in the plural it is thus declined: N. dii, G. deorum, D. diis, Ac. deos, V. dii, Ab. diis. VOCABULARY. What English words are formed from the Latin words employed in this lesson? For what Latin words, employed in this lesson, are the following English words?-namely, cultivate; agriculture; variety; liberal; amplify; scholar; master; amicable; epistolary; horticulture; puerile; laud; nautical; error; poetical; ancillary; vitupethe exact meaning of each of these English words. What is the gender of the nouns of the first declension? State the exceptions. What is the gender of nouns ending in us, and nouns ending in um? When is the instrument after a passive verb accompanied by the preposition a? and when does it stand without that nautae, and bono nauta? What is the meaning of est mihi? What preposition? Why do you find in this lesson such forms as boni is the vocative singular of filius and of deus? LESSONS IN BOTANY.-No. II. FLOWERS. FLOWERS are among the most exquisite objects of the vegetable world. How various their forms, how beautiful their tints, how delightful their perfumes. No two are exactly alike, even when they are of the same species, and grow on the same stalk. Then flowers do not all unfold at once, but appear in a wisely-ordered succession; and thus, short-lived as they are, we have them almost all the year round. First comes the snow-drop, which presents its modest milk-white flower to our notice early in February; next the crocus appears, but in its timidity, keeps close to the earth; then rises the violet, arrayed in beauty and breathing fragrance, with the polyanthus and auricula as her courtly attendants; afterwards rainbow-headed tulips spring forth richly, and anemonies follow in their train; while the ranunculus, the lily, the carnation, and the queen-like rose, with others too numerous to be told, close the gay and lovely procession. Flowers are not only the last, but the most elaborated organs of the vegetable system. Whether we contemplate the beauty of their forms, the splendour of their colours, or the delicious fragrance they everywhere breathe around us; or whether, penetrating beneath the surface, we survey the delicacy of their structure, and investigate the peculiar functions they perform, we cannot but feel the greatest admiration of the skill with which, in a compass so small, and by means apparently so simple, such a series of actions, terminating in results so varied and important, can at once be combined and regulated. Man alone, of all sentient beings, appears peculiarly formed to derive pleasure from a sense of the graceful and beautiful, fore, seem to be almost exclusively formed for his benefit, conand from inhaling a delicious perfume. Flowers, theresidering them as a mere source of innocent gratification. It is true that the eyes of other creatures are often more acute than those of the human species in distinguishing between what is beautiful or nutritious in their food; while to the Equus, -i, m., a horse; fecundus, -a, -um, fruitful; frumentum, -i, n., corn; granum, -i, n., a grain; juba, -ae, f., a maxe; musca, -ae, f., a fly; molestus, a, um, troublesome: varius, -a, -um, various; vireo, 2, I become green, or I become strong; colo, 3, Isame objects their olfactory nerves are remarkably alive. But, cultivate, I honour, or I worship; committo, 3, I intrust; curro, 3, I run; hinnio, 4, I neigh; celeriter, swiftly; longus, -a, -um, long; rego, 3, I guide, or I rule; templum, -i, n., a temple. whatever enjoyment flowers may yield them, there are delicate There are a few exceptions to the rule as given in the text; but in this general outline they are not given, in order that the student's mind may not be confused. Those who wish to enter more minutely into the subject may find the information in Zumpt's Latin Grammar, translated by Schmitz. See also the author's "Latin Made Easy," fourth edition (just ready), price 39. 6d. The work contains copious examples, with a Latin-English and an English-Latin vocabulary of all the words, as well as a general index of subjects, forming a complete introduction to the reading and writing of Latin prose. It is published by Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., of London and may be procured through any respectable bookseller. ductions are made to subserve some highly-important functions as respects the economy of the plants themselves, as well as in reference to the animal world. And, in this point of view, they are now, more particularly, to receive our attention. The calyx, or flower cup, forms a covering to shelter and defend the bud before it expands. It consists of several parts which resemble small leaves both in form and colour, and probably act in the same manner. This part varies, so that in the hemlock it is a fence; in the hazel, a catkin; in the daffodil, a sheath; in the oat and the grasses, a husk; in mosses, a veil; in mushrooms, a curtain; and in the polyanthus a cup. Above the calyx rises the corolla, or blossom, the coloured part of the flower. It consists of several petals, distinct or separate, or else forming a corolla of one single piece, in which case the flower is called monopetalous. When the petals first expand, they serve to protect the delicate organs in the centre, and also to reflect the sun's rays on them, thus aiding that orb in its genial influence. When they are full-grown, this heat is no longer necessary; and as light and air are now beneficial, the petals expand, leaving these delicate parts to enjoy their full power. In fig. 1, a portion of the calyx and petals is 1emoved, showing the stamens and pistil. The stamens are little bodies, having yellow heads mounted on long stalks, which are seen around, but not in the centre of the flower. These stalks are called filaments; whilst the heads are called the anthers (fig. 2). In the flower of the almond (fig. 3), the petals and the stamens are united to the calyx, while the pistil is free. ale or wings; two partially or completely covered by the ale, and often united slightly by their lower margins, so as to forin a single piece, b, called the keel, which embraces the essential organs. Such apparent irregularities result from the unequal development of the different parts of the same shoot, and from the adhesion of these parts to each other in various ways; so that the whole form of the flower sometimes appears completely changed, and there is only one direction in which it can be divided into halves. Among these irregular corollas may be marked the labiate, or lipped (fig. 6), having two divisions of the part in the form of lips, from a fancied resemblance to a mouth; the upper one composed usually of two pieces, and the lower of three, separated by a hiatus or gap. When the lower lip is pressed against the upper, so as to leave only a chink between them, the corolla is said to be masked, as in Snapdragon, Frogsmouth (fig. 7), and some other plants. The pistil (fig. 8.) occupies the centre, or axis of the flower, and is surrounded by the stamens and floral envelopes when these are present. It is composed of three parts: the germen, the style, and the stigma. The germen, varying in form in different plants, is always placed below the style, and contains the embryo seeds. The style is placed on the germen, and, like the stigma, has a variety of forms. In many plants the pistil and stamens are in the same flower, as here described; but in other plants one flower contains the pistil, and another the stamens, while in a third class, the pistils are in one plant and the stamens in another, as in the nettle, the male and female plants growing in adjoining patches. Like the other organs, the pistil consists of one or more modified leaves, which, in this instance, are called carpels, from the Greek word for fruit. There are many points of resemblance between them and leaves. When a pistil consists of a single carpel, it is simple: when it is composed of several carpels, it is called compound. In the double flowering cherry no Fig. 8. Fig. 9. Fig. 7. Filament and Anther. Almond Flower. Frogsmouth. Pistil of the single flowering cherry. fruit is produced, and the pistil consists usually of several leaves. But when the single flowering cherry is examined, it is found that, in place of folded leaves, there appears a single body, called the ovary, and containing a single ovule (fig. 9); which shows also the section of a pistil. Compound, or more properly, aggregate flowers, invite our attention, and may be easily observed. Each blossom of the daisy, for example, is composed of between two and three hundred other flowers, or florets, all of them perfect, each having all the parts that constitute a flower, and, therefore, as complete as a lily or a hyacinth. Each of the flower leaves, usually white above and crimson underneath, forming a kind of circular coronet around the flower, though they appear to be no more than little petals, are in reality complete flowers, as well as each of the small yellow things within this coronal circle, which a young botanist might mistake for stamens. When, however, a little experience has been acquired, with the aid of a good microscope the truth of this statement may easily be verified. For example, if he pull out one of the will at first think it is flat from one end to the other, though, white coronal flowers from the circumference of the circle, he on looking carefully at the end by which it was fastened into |