[155]To the names as given by Dr. Parsons, those adopted by Linnæus are here added.
[155]To the names as given by Dr. Parsons, those adopted by Linnæus are here added.
Plate XV.Fig. 1. Ibid. Linn. Gromwell. This seed is in figure exactly like a human heart without the auricles, but has no flat or depressed part on its sides; it is pretty circular round its thickest part, and terminates in a blunt cone. At the thickest extremity there is a circular roughness, which is the umbilicus, and from thence to the cone on the shortest side it is bisulcated longitudinally; so that the space between the sulci is a kind of ridge, nor do either sulci or ridge extend to either extremity of the seed; the rest of the surface is smooth and polished, the ground a light ash-colour, with a shade or cloud of yellow or brown.
These seeds are very hard, and the ash-coloured shell is brittle like that of a hen’s egg; which being broken, appears to be lined with a light olive-coloured uniform membrane, which encloses a nucleus of a Spanish snuff-colour, pretty smooth, and of the same form with its shell, being in close contact with it all round.
The natural size of a middling grain of this seed is about the eighth part of an inch long, and the ninth of an inch in diameter at the roundest part.
Fig. 2. Cuminum C. Linn. Cummin. This seed is double, though fixed side by side to one little stem; both which while together seem like one, and are ribbed in an uneven manner longitudinally, having great numbers of little threads or fibres sticking out all over them, which makes them look hoary. They are thick in the middle and run to a cone at each end. At the upper extremity there is an appearance like a bifurcation in the stilus, each of them belonging to its particular seed; this appears when the seeds are separated.
These seeds are of a darkish straw-colour, the little threads or fibres being much lighter than the body of the seed. Each of these seeds contains in it a kernel of an olive-colour, and exactly in shape like a waterman’s boat, and of the same proportion, having a concave and convex side; the latter has a blunt ridge like the keel of a boat, and the former has a white line from one end to the other, which proves to be a ridge, to which the stilus that rises from the little stem of the seed, adheres to support it.
When the seeds are together upon the stem their length is about the fifth part of an inch, and about an eighth part of an inch in the broadest part.
Fig. 3. P. somniferum. Linn. Poppy. This is a little yellowish white seed exactly resembling in shape a sheep’s kidney, having a yellow place about the hollow part, which is its umbilicus, analogous to the hollow part of the kidney into which the blood-vessels (emulgents) enter.
If it be viewed on the back or convex part, concealing the hollow, it is exactly shaped like an egg, having one end somewhat rounder than the other.
All over its surface it has superficial cells, formed by ridges that rise from the surface, which are some heptagons, some pentagons, but for the most part hexagons, though not precisely of equal sides; and the bottoms of these cells seem to be very porous.
The seeds seem very light and springy, as a gentle blast of ones breath is capable of blowing them away, or a touch of any thing of making them roll a considerable way. As to their size, they are not above a twenty-fourth part of an inch long, and about a thirtieth part broad or thick.
Fig. 4. Centaurea Benedicta. Linn. Blessed Thistle. The body of this seed is about twice as long as it is thick, is round and shaped much like a nine-pin, only instead of being small at the upper end, it has a stricture, from whence arises a beautiful crown of ten angles or points, out of which come also ten aristæ or spiculæ like ivory, about the length of the body of the seed, running taper upward, and set round in an uniform manner. Within the circle of these long spikes there are ten more, which are but very short, and of the same colour and consistence with the others. When these are all plucked off, the vestiges of the circles they form appear in the upper surface ofthe crown; in the middle of which a little process arises, but very superficially. That part which appears circular is white, and the rest of this surface, of the corona, of the same colour with the rest of the body of the seed, which is a sort of an olive-colour.
The body of the seed is of the sulcated kind, and looks exactly like a fluted pillar, and the surface shines as if varnished with some gummy substance.
At the lower or small end of this seed, there is an opening reaching up above a third of the length of the body of the seed, which discovers a white root, shaped like a cone at the bottom, and rising thicker by degrees till it divides into three limbs; these run taper upwards, till they are lost in the parenchyma of the seed, which at the place of their entrance appears somewhat fungous, but is more compact and clammy through its substance.
The length of the body is more than two eighths of an inch, and the aristæ exactly the same length. The corona is its umbilicus.
Fig. 5. P. Major. Linn. Plantain. By the imperfect idea we have of this seed from its minuteness, it may seem like a flea, as any small speck would, if a little oblong; yet its form is not constant, that is, there are scarce two of them precisely alike, some being perfectly elliptical, some with blunt angles, and some approaching a spheroid. They have a whitish mark on one side, which is the umbilicus of the seed, from whence the first rudiments of the plant spring, and the surface is entirely granulated over, and has a general appearance like some kinds of plumb-stones; the surface also shines a little, as if oiled or moist, and their colour is brown. One of the seeds cut transverselyappears to have the shell or covering pretty strong in proportion to its size, which contains a parenchyma that is very porous and succulent. It is about a sixteenth part of an inch long, and a twenty-second broad.
Fig. 6 and 7. Delphinum S. A. Linn. Stavesacre. The seeds of this plant are rough and angular, inclining to a triangle, although imperfectly so. They may be considered as having a basis or apex; the basis is thick and clumsy, and the apex runs to an angular point, which point is the umbilicus of the seed, out of which its first rudiments arise; it also has a convex and a plane or concave side; the former, Fig. 7, is rough, by reason of its being covered all over with porous cells, the ridges of which are also depressed or indented with rough pores, and granulated as if stuck full of sand. The concave surface, Fig. 6, is also rough, but not in the same manner, and so are the sides, which have a little flatness; these also are porous and sandy, and before the microscope, shine, and are coloured like dirty brown sugar-candy. The concave surface, notwithstanding the roughness, has one longitudinal ridge, and sometimes more, running from the basis to the apex, which has the same granulated surface with the rest. It contains a parenchyma, which is of a yellowish grey colour, and is moist and succulent.
This seed is in its natural size about two eighths of an inch long from its basis to the apex, and near as broad; however, some are broader in proportion to their length than others, and they are one eighth of an inch thick.
Fig. 8 and 9. Pimpinella A. Linn. Anise. Two of these seeds grow together upon one little stalk; when they are pulled asunder, they appear to have a flat and a convex surface. On the convex surface, Fig. 8, each seed has three ribsplaced at equal distances from one another, which are porous and a little rough, being of a straw-colour; and the spaces between them are also rough and porous, but of an olive-colour. The flat surface, Fig. 9, has a white ridge running longitudinally from its basis to the apex in the middle; this white ridge or line serves to cling to the stilus, upon which it sticks. The stilus is also white, and has the same contexture with the ridge, and is bifid, in order to support two seeds with their flat sides together, which keeps them the more compact and less liable to injuries than if a single seed stuck on. It is certain, a single stilus would do as well to support two seeds as the bifid one, for even the two stick together as if single, if there was not a necessity for a double stilus, for a very important reason; which is, that when the seeds are ripe, they would stick on a single one, till the time of their being scattered about would pass, which would be a detriment to their propagation; but the stilus being double, and of a springy nature, the two parts are glued together, as long as moisture remains about the seeds capable of keeping them together; but when the seeds are grown ripe and dry, then this moisture is exhaled, and the stilus, as well as the flat surfaces of the seeds, begin to contract from their former plumpness; the stilus first begins to split asunder, and thereby separates the two surfaces of the seeds, each of which sticks loosely to its particular limb of the stilus; till at length the remaining moisture exhaling more and more, it grows rigid, and cracks with a blast of wind, and so the seed is scattered or sown in the ground in its due time. This is a most excellent provision of nature, and highly worth regard.
When the two seeds are sticking together, they have a round end which is the basis, and grow smaller by degrees upward, till they become an apex, having upon each seed a kind of fungous or bulbous corona, which is the umbilicus of the seed; and the shapeof the two together may be compared to that of a given fig reversed. The parenchyma of these seeds is that of a pale greenish olive-colour. They are more exactly of a size than most other seeds, and are each one-eighth part of an inch long, and more than half that breadth.
Fig. 10 and 11. Anethum F. Linn. Sweet Fennel. In viewing these seeds, they do not look much unlike one species of the cucumber in general, some of them being thicker and longer than others, and some straighter; but upon applying the microscope, the ridges appear high, and form deep furrows.
Two of these seeds grow together upon the same little stalk, which is divided, like that of the anise seed, into a double or bifid stilus, in the same manner, and for the same reasons; when the two are pulled asunder, they appear to have a flat surface, Fig. 10, and a round and ridged one, Fig. 11. On the former, these characters are conspicuous: viz. 1. The whitish cortex or covering of the seed shews its edge distinctly. 2. Withinside this edge a white fungous substance appears running parallel to, and in close contact with it, on each side from end to end, being both together about one-third of the breadth of the seed; and between these, in the center, there appears a dark brown elliptical substance, which, upon separating the cortical and fungous coverings, appears to be a nucleus, whose internal substance is of an olive colour and something succulent. On the external surface there appears three high ridges, and when the flat faces of the seeds are close together upon the stilus, so as to seem but one, these three ridges on each seed and the two edges of each meeting firmly together, form eight regular ridges equally divided upon that round body that we have before said to resemble a cucumber. The extremity which is fixed to the stem is smallerthan the other; the latter has a fungous kind of process arising from the body of the seed, which is the umbilicus of the seed. The ridges are of a light straw-colour, and the bottoms of the sulci they form are darkish. A middling seed is somewhat more than two-eighths of an inch long, and above half that breadth.
Fig. 12 and 13. Amomum G. P. Linn. Grains of Paradise. These seeds are of an irregular form, but may be said to have a basis and apex; the basis is generally so flat as to render it capable of standing well upon it; the sides consist of several flats and angles, and the apex looks very much like the mouth of a purse drawn or gathered up close together.
The body of the seed is of a reddish brown colour, the surface much granulated and rough; and the apex, which is its umbilicus, degenerates from this reddish brown colour into a yellow, appearing in little oblong ridges or plates.
Upon making a transverse section of this seed, a most beautiful appearance presents itself; the external cortex is very thin, and retains the same colour through its substance with the outer surface; this incloses a black, porous, pitchy substance, which is much thicker than the cortex, in close contact with it, and at the angles of the seed is pretty considerable. Next to this the parenchyma appears, as white as the finest white salt, and radiated from the center outward; and in this transverse section seems to have a round hole in the center of one of the divided parts, and a process answerable to it in the other. If a longitudinal incision be made through the middle, the appearance will be as in Fig. 13, when the center of the white parenchyma appears exactly like a modern vinegar glass, commonly called a cruet, the bottom of which tends obliquely towards the basis, and the top towards the apex of the seed. The surface of this part looks polished, andthe colour is a yellowish olive; nor does it look unlike a gummy or resinous body; however, we cannot be certain what its substance is, notwithstanding its great resemblance to that kind of matter. The white parenchyma is very singular, being almost divided into two lobes by this little cruet, whose top runs up into or is lost in a remarkable circular part, which has a rising towards the umbilicus of the seed in form of an acorn, and this rising stands in the open place, into which the pursy umbilicus leads. As to its natural dimensions, an ordinary seed is somewhat more than the eighth of an inch long, and about an eighth thick.
Fig. 14. Apium P. Linn. Common Parsley. The seeds of this garden parsley, being of the umbellated kind, grow two upon a little stem, whose bifid stilus supports them like the ammi or smallage; they are striated or ribbed like those, having three of such ribs on the convex part, spread further asunder, and being much more conspicuous than those of either of the seeds just mentioned. There is another rib which runs on each side of the seed, which is its lateral rib, and that which runs round the edge of the flat surface makes it resemble the edge or gunnel of a barge or lighter, to which each of these bears some resemblance. This seed is considerably larger than either, and much longer in proportion to their size; the colour of the interstices between the ribs is a dusky olive, and the ribs of an oaker yellow. They are pretty round where they rest on the stem, and run up elliptically to an apex, where there is a fungous corona, which is the umbilicus. In making a transverse section through the middle of one of them, the parenchyma appears of the same form with the cortex, having this remarkable property, that between the ridges or ribs are canals, formed of the cortex and the surface of the parenchyma, containing a brown balsamic fluid, with which they are filled from one end to the otherof the seed; and in some seeds this balsam appears all round between the parenchyma and the cortex. This will be further explained when we come to speak of the seseli, in which this is so apparent, that a transverse view of that seed will serve for both. The parenchyma is somewhat succulent, and of a greyish olive colour. An ordinary seed is one-eighth of an inch long, and about a sixteenth thick.
Fig. 15 and 16. Bubon Macedonicum. Linn. Macedonian Parsley. These are long slender elliptical seeds, growing like the seeds of other umbelliferous plants, two together on the stem and bifid stilus; when they are pulled asunder they appear each to have a convex or back side, and a flat part or belly. The convex side, Fig. 15, may be said, from its roundness at one end, and smallness at the other, to have a basis and apex; the former is round, and after swelling a little towards the middle, runs taper upwards, till within one-fifth of its length there arise two rough hairy processes, one on each side, like ears, and the rest runs to a point; so that the entire back surface is a near representation of a mouse lying flat. The colour of the body of this seed is a kind of olive, but the hoary fibres all over are of an ash-colour, and the striæ or ridges much the same.
The flat surface, Fig. 16, is of a brown colour and porous, having none of these fibres upon it; and is surrounded by an edge or ridge, like those on the back of the seed, which are also hoary. Upon this surface the bifid stilus is apparent, one extremity of which terminates at a hollow part, that may be likened to the under jaw of the mouse, between the roots of the ears; and the other stands loose, to which the fellow-seed was also attached.
The ridges are also hollow, like those of the garden parsley, and contain such a balsamic fluid as that; but this being so exceedingly slender, requires the greatest magnifier of the microscope for opake objects to discern it. This seed is about an eighth of an inch long, and about a twentieth broad.
Fig. 17, 18, and 19. C. sativum. Linn. Coriander. The seed of common coriander is spherical when entire, and may be said to have two poles; the lower, or that into which the stem is fixed, which forms a fungous hole, and the upper or little apex, as at Fig. 17, this is the umbilicus of the seed. From one of these poles to the other several ridges or striæ run like the lines of longitude upon the globe, between which there are several roughnesses; they are of a yellowish oaker colour, and about the sixth of an inch in diameter, or something less.
Each of these seeds, upon being bruised, divides into two hemispheres, Fig. 18, which discovers the edges of the rigid cortex, on the concave side there is a rising, and within it a lens, concave on one side and convex on the other, Fig. 19, as it is turned out of the cortex. On the concave side is a rising in the middle extending from one pole to the other, and on each side just below the apex, there is a white roundish fungous spot rising from the surface, from each of which runs downward a little curved a ridge, which appears to be resinous; and the surface is rough, and has a great many particles of resin also.
Fig. 20 to 24. S. Montanum. Linn. Long-leaved Meadow-saxifrage. This seed stripped of its foliaceous wings may be compared to a sort of canoo which is too narrow in proportion to its great length, has a hollow and a convex side, like that kind of boat, and is ridged longitudinally on its convex side, Fig. 20, from end to end, with four principal ridges; and between these,with others less considerable. There are, however, some of these seeds wider than others in proportion, but the majority are too long for their breadth, as I have said before.
These principal ridges are the support of the wings, and may be called their basis, for they rise broad from the body of the seed, and run out to a thin edge, which being continued constitute this leafy border. These are yellowish, and the spaces between them and the other less considerable ridges inclining to a brown.
On the concave side, Fig. 21, there is an edge or gunnel like that of a boat, and a considerable cavity from the edge; in the center of which the vestige of the stilus, Fig. 22, which is also bifid here, appears from one end to the other. The edge and this vestige are also of a yellowish colour, but the rest of the surface brown and porous, and the whole body of the seed and ridges shine, as if varnished over with some oily substance.
Fig. 23 is a view of the convex side of a seed divested of its wings, which is one of the most proportioned seeds I could pick out; at the upper extremity of which a little process may be perceived to turn or crook back upon the body; the same may also be discerned on that of Fig. 20. At the root of this process the opening or umbilicus of the seed lies.
Among the many beauties with which this seed abounds, there is one that is most agreeably surprising, which (says our author) I discovered by making a transverse section of one of them, in order to see what its internal substance consisted of. I no sooner applied the cut surface, Fig. 24, to my microscope, than each of the principal ridges, which I said above is the basis of the leafy wing, appeared to be a triangular tube, containinga fine brown liquid balsam of the colour of brown basilicon. This was a high entertainment, as every other curious discovery that arises by the diligent inspection of the seed is, and prompted my examining others in the same manner; and I found such a balsam as this common to the several kinds of parsley seeds also, as well as to that of the bishop’s weed and smallage; although these are so minute, that I could not be sensible of it but with difficulty, and with one of my greatest magnifiers. There is also something analogous to this in the sweet fennel and finoki, not in tubes of the husks or cortex, but rather in spungy channels that sink into the surface of the parenchyma, between the ridges of these last. The length of an ordinary seed is one-third of an inch, the thickness about an eighth, and the breadth of each wing nearly equal to the thickness of the body.
Fig. 25. H. Niger. Linn. Common Henbane. After the calyx has split and cracked by drying, the seed-pot comes to be exposed to the heat of the sun, which also grows dry, by which the lid or cover becomes loose, having no other visible attachment to keep it on the edge of the pot but its moisture, which in some measure helps to keep it there by agglutination, as well as by the squeezing or pressure of the segments of the calyx. But, this moisture exhaling, and the calyx splitting off, the lid, being now dry, blows off with the first blast of wind, and scatters the seeds, which by this time are hard and ripe.
When the seeds are ripe they are of a light colour, like white-brown paper, and incline to a triangular figure, whose angles are rounded off. They are depressed on both sides, so as to become pretty flat, and their whole surface is cellular; the cells have no particular form, but are somewhat irregular, and the ridges that form them are pretty eminent. As the drawing appears, theseeds may be said to have a basis and an apex; the former has no other particular mark than the cells, but the latter has a kind of notch indented downward from the top, which is the umbilicus of the seed. The parenchyma appears of a greyish colour. A middling grain is about a sixteenth of an inch long, and not quite so broad in the broadest part.
Fig. 26 to 29. C. Arietinum. Linn. Chickpea. There is a good deal of reason for comparing the chiche grain to the head of a ram; for each of them, Fig. 26, consists of a round or back part, and an apex or snout. There are, besides this shape, which indeed favours the simile, several depressions upon the grain which add still to the likeness of that head; and these we shall consider in particular. On the upper or convex side there is, in most of them, a longitudinal little ridge, and a depression on each side, which resembles the rising in the frontal bone of a sheep; and, a little further forward, two risings, one on each side, which look like the superciliary eminences of the eyes. Each side of the round or occipital part has a depression that also adds to the same image; but what is yet a greater argument for it, is, that the under part, Fig. 27, is flattish, having an edge on each side, which may be compared to the edges of the under jaw. In the center of this flat part there is a little mamillary rising very remarkable, and just under the apex or snout an oval hole, whitish at the bottom, which is the umbilicus of the seed; besides which, there is an apparent sulcus on each side the apex, running a little way back, and is a close resemblance to the rictus oris. The husk is thin and fragile, and when taken off, looks like thin tortoise-shell; and the nucleus or parenchyma is of a yellowish white, exactly like the substance of a split-pea, without the covering. The entire nucleus has the same depressions which appear on its husk or cortex; and a fore view of it,Fig. 28, shews the naked apex, with the hole underneath, which is but superficial; and the seam which distinguishes the tip of the apex, I take to be the rudiment of the plant, for it is easily separated in that seam. The natural size of this seed appears, Fig. 29, being almost three-eighths of an inch from the apex to the outer edge of the basis, and something narrower.
Fig. 30, 31, 32. L. nobilis. Linn. Bay-berries. The bay-berries, Fig. 30, are a fruit of an oval shape, sticking to a short stem not above a quarter of an inch long; the surface is generally black, but some of them, whether through age I cannot say, are crusted over with a dull ash-coloured scurfy matter, and sometimes with fine ragged membranes. When the husk is opened, it appears of a fine dark-brown colour on the inner surface, being a smooth thin membrane that lines the husk, and at the smaller end it suddenly grows yellowish, and looks like a brown cup with a yellow bottom.
The nucleus easily comes out when the husk is opened, and as easily separates into two parts or lobes longitudinally; each of which is represented, Fig. 31. They lie in the husk with the flat surfaces together, each of which has a sinus at the smaller end shaped like the sole of one’s shoe; one of these contains the little piece which has the rudiments of the tree, adhering closely to its sinus; the other is empty, and serves only to give room to these rudiments when the flat surfaces of both lobes are together: Fig. 32 represents that little piece taken out and viewed by a larger magnifier, and appears to be convex on the visible side; having in its outline much the same form with the cell or sinus which contained it. It has a ridge in a longitudinal direction, is smaller at one end than the other, has risings on the sides, and is a most entertaining object.
Fig. 33, 34. Mesembryanthemum Crystallinum. Linn. Diamond Fig-marygold, or Ice-plant.[156]The whole stalks, leaves, and calix are covered with little glassy globules, which are called diamond or silver drops; and which are rather like ice than either. They are transparent, in as much as opposite windows of houses appear through them, and the green stalk makes those between it and the microscope look green. Those upon the stalks are spheroids, but those on the leaves and calix are globular. They seem like so many transparent stones set into a case, like those of a ring; others are more prominent. Upon breaking them, they appear to be little membranous bladders, very clear, and filled with an aqueous liquor. When they begin to wither and the juice to exhale, these membranes appear flaccid and collapsed.
[156]Dr. Parsons having given the microscopical description of the flower as well as the seed of this plant, and each of them forming a very agreeable object, the figure and description of the flower is here introduced.
[156]Dr. Parsons having given the microscopical description of the flower as well as the seed of this plant, and each of them forming a very agreeable object, the figure and description of the flower is here introduced.
Fig. 33 shews a flower of its natural size, with a bit of its stalk and a leaf; the leaf has its apex bent towards one side, is fat or thick, and has in its sinus the bud of another. The seed-vessel is also fleshy, and the calix has but three leaves, which is an exception to the general rule mentioned above, each of which has its apex in the center, or nearly so, differing from those of the stalk. The flower is indeed polypetalous, having an infinite number of narrow little leaves crowded together, of a whitish faint purple, in some parts nearly white, but very inconsiderable.
Fig. 34 is the seed, which is enlarged microscopically, having a streaky surface, and being of a triangular form. At one angle there is a dent or rictus, the end of which is the umbilicus of theseed. It is of a yellowish brown colour, and is very minute in its natural size, which is seen in those little specks near it.
Fig. 35, 36, 37. Areca Catechu. Linn. Syst. Vegetab. Areca Nut. The areca nut grows in a husk like the walnut or nutmeg. Fig. 35 is that hard nut which we are now to describe. Its surface is a dark brown, striated promiscuously with a yellowish brown colour; its figure a cone, and is capable of standing firmly upon its basis. In the center of the basis there is the hole or vestige of its pedicle, or whatever other thing stuck to it whilst inveloped in its husk, round which the bottom is whitish. Fig. 36 is another species of the areca nut, at least in shape, being somewhat less, more squat, and having no cone. I cannot say, whether these different shaped cones might not be a variation of the fruit of the same tree, as apples or any other fruits often are; but the surfaces are not precisely alike in one respect only, their colour being the same, that is, the yellowish brown lines upon the surface of the latter are thicker together, and sink deeper into the cortex between the dark brown parts, which are consequently made more imminent thereby than those of the conical one.
Upon cutting one of these into two parts, the surface appears at Fig. 37. On the outer part all round the internal substance appears radiated outward, being of a dark red and brown colour, and in its center inclosing a white substance, which in many places shoots itself out into the brown substance in little radii towards the cortex.
Fig. 38, 39. J. Communis. Linn. Juniper Berry. Fig. 38,a, is a juniper berry magnified to shew its marks the more plainly. This fruit is quite round, of a black colour, which, although it appears smooth, yet the covering appears porous, andresembles the surface of shagreen in some measure. At the top it has a triangular sulcus, which is not very deep, and in some it is superficial. At the other extremity the stem appears, which is rough near the place of its insertion, with a scaly covering for a little space.b, is a transverse section of a juniper berry, which shews the thickness of the pulpy substance of the fruit, which appears every where interspersed and mixed with a great quantity of fine yellow gum, that in many places is in lumps, especially about the ossicula or stones of the fruit. This parenchyma incloses three of these ossicula, lying in close contact together by their flatter sides, and with their apices meeting at the top.c, is the fruit of its natural size, some grains may be a little bigger, some a little less.
Fig. 39 is the convex side of one of the stones, having from the apex three or four ridges, which render it triangular at the top, and are lost towards the basis, of an irregular form, long, narrow, and shining, after being cleansed of the pulp that covers them with the gummy matter just mentioned; but when dry, has an appearance like that of the stones of other fruit. Fig. 40 shews a longitudinal section of one of them, which brings to view a nucleus in all respects like that of a plumb-stone, being cloathed with a membrane, and having a succulent parenchyma.a, is the stone in its natural size.
Fig. 41, 42. Artemisia S. Linn. Worm-seed. Fig. 41 shews the form of a middling seed enlarged by the microscope, for they are of different sizes among one another. This is one of the most singular in its structure, having scarce any thing substantial in it. The four little figures near it are those of a natural size, which are very small, and therefore renders the examination of them the more difficult. The seed has a small end or handle, being the place to which the stem which supportsit was fixed, and the other end is bulky and round, having from the hoary handles several bulges all round, which are soft, and so very tender, that the rubbing of the seeds together reduces the surfaces to powder, whereby a large seed may be reduced to a very small one. The seed seems to be entirely composed of thin brittle membranes of an extreme delicate contexture, as at Fig. 42, having a dark center, from which it is transparent outward to the edge all round, and radiated upwards by infinitely fine radii, which do not render it in the least opake. Thus from the very outer surface the seed is composed of these sort of membranes, one after another, till nothing remains behind. Their colour before the naked eye is of a yellowish cast, but before the microscope for opake objects shines in many places like gold.
Fig. 43 to 46. S. Arvensis. Linn. Scabious. There is no seed perhaps which has more beauties than this of the scabious. Fig. 43 is a view of what botanists call one of the florets, which is a calix to the seed, whose fibres appear to extend themselves over its edges. This cup is of an octagonal form, and makes an appearance like a fine vase, having scallopped edges, and towards the inner part of the edge a whitish ruffled membrane. The ribs run down from its mouth, which is bell-fashioned, and becoming narrower downward, form obtuse angles, by continuing from the bend to form the bottom of the vase. Between these ribs down the bend the vase is clear, though not quite transparent, and from thence to the bottom the ribs are hairy, and make an agreeable figure.
Fig. 44 is the seed taken out of the vase, and drawn in another proportion, wherein appears first its thick body, which is somewhat hoary by the microscope, and runs up with a narrow neck, till it divides into five spiculated fibres, called by Gerard purple thrumbs, whose spiculæ or spines are determined upwards, andare thereby ready to cause the seed to recede from any thing that might injure it upon being touched. The bodies of the vases when first ripe are of a fine lemon yellow, but grow by long keeping darker; and the bason formed by the roots of the fine fibres is of a fine green, but the fibres themselves of a shining brown, like brown sugar-candy, as their spines are also.
Fig. 45 represents the stalk to which the vases stick by their bottoms, all which, when together, form the head mentioned by botanists to be the characters of some species of the scabious. In this figure the body of the stalk appears all stuck full of narrow whitish leaves, and the round spots between their roots are the vestiges of the bottoms of the vases; so that the leaves and vases are mixed together all over the stalk.
Fig. 46 shews a vase with a piece of its side cut out from the edge to the bottom. The bulbous part of the seed is contained in a delicate white membranous case, arising from the inner membrane of the bottom of the vase, and running up about half way the neck of the seed, embracing it pretty close, with a mouth consisting of six or eight sides as beautifully formed as that of any fine cut-glass decanter. The seed is loose in this theca, so that it may be turned round within it, but cannot be pulled out without tearing this beautiful theca, upon account of its narrow neck.
Those who have been long accustomed to microscopical investigations will readily admit, that the numerous class of insects, and their several parts, afford some of the most diversified, as well as the most admirable objects for the microscope. To readers of this description, who should be considered as adepts, the following instructions may possibly afford little that is novel, as by constant habit they must be thoroughly conversant in the best manner of procuring and preserving the various objects; it may be, however, reasonably presumed, that there are many persons who have not hitherto devoted their attention to this subject, as well as numbers who, deterred by the imaginary difficulties attending it, have either totally relinquished the pursuit, or made but small progress therein; to such, the directions here given it is hoped will prove an acquisition.
Confident as I am of the delights which this employment affords to the intelligent and industrious admirer of the works of nature, it is to be deplored that so many persons, who possess every requisite for these enjoyments, should remain totally insensible to their attractions; how much might be atchieved, couldsuch be prevailed upon to devote their hours of leisure to so rational a purpose? especially if it be considered how easily these pleasures are to be attained, as well as the tranquillity with which they may be enjoyed.
Investigations of this kind particularly recommend themselves to the attention of the ladies, as being congenial with that refinement of taste and sentiment, and that pure and placid consistency of conduct which so eminently distinguish and adorn those of this happy isle. To the honour of several ladies of eminence be it recorded, that they are proficients in the study of the various branches of natural history, and many others are making considerable progress in this pleasing science; than which, none can possess a greater tendency to sweeten the hours of solitude and anxiety. How infinitely superior to a rational mind is the gratification arising from such pursuits, to those, to which numbers unhappily sacrifice their health and beauty, and frequently the peace of mind of themselves and relatives, by a baneful attachment to the gaming table; and that not owing to intellectual incapacity, but merely from not possessing fortitude sufficient to prefer the improvement of their minds to amusements, for which no better plea can possibly be urged, than that of their being sanctioned by the idol, Fashion.
Actuated by no other motives, than the sincerest respect I entertain for my fair countrywomen, and anxiety for their real welfare, I have presumed thus freely to deliver my sentiments; with greater confidence in the merits of the cause I plead, and reliance on their prudent discrimination, than on the persuasive eloquence of the advocate, I am willing to flatter myself that these remarks may not be entirely ineffectual; at least in warning those who have happily as yet escaped so dangerous a gulf.
Again, how many of my own sex, divested of a taste for rational enjoyments, groan under the oppressive load of listlessness and dissatisfaction; for, independent of the more serious and requisite duties of our respective callings, we require amusements to refresh us in our vacant moments, which if not devoted to some laudable pursuit, will necessarily, like those of too many of our young men of fortune, be sauntered away, or consumed in senseless and illicit delights, eventually productive of infallible ruin to both body and mind; viewed in this light, it may indeed be said, that the situation of men of opulence is of all stations the least to be envied. I cannot, therefore, but earnestly recommend to those entrusted with that important charge, the education of youth, to enforce both by precept and example, their employment of that time which is not engaged in necessary avocations, to some purpose, that, whilst it amuses, may likewise instruct and improve their understandings. These measures are more peculiarly important in times like the present, when idleness, dissipation, and infidelity are with gigantic strides endeavouring to encompass mankind with chains of slavery of all others the most dreadful and pernicious.
I shall close these observations in the elegant language of an admired writer.
“A man that has formed a habit of turning every new object to his entertainment, finds in the productions of nature an inexhaustible stock of materials upon which he can employ himself, without any temptations to envy or malevolence; faults, perhaps, seldom totally avoided by those whose judgment is much exercised upon the works of art. He has always a certain prospect of discovering new reasons for adoring the sovereign Author of the universe, and probable hopes of making some discovery of benefit to others, or profit to himself. There is no doubt butmany vegetables and animals have qualities that might be of great use, to the knowledge of which there is not required much force of penetration or fatigue of study, but only frequent experiments and close attention. What is said by the chemists of their darling mercury, is, perhaps, true of every body through the whole creation, that, if a thousand lives should be spent upon it, all its properties would not be found out.
“Mankind must necessarily be diversified by various tastes, since life affords and requires such multitudes of employments, and a nation of naturalists is neither to be hoped or desired; but it is surely not improper to point out a fresh amusement to those who languish in health, and repine in plenty, for want of some source of diversion that may be less easily exhausted, and to inform the multitudes of both sexes, who are burthened with every new day, that there are many shews which they have not seen. He that enlarges his curiosity after the works of nature, demonstrably multiplies the inlets to happiness.”[157]
[157]Johnson.
[157]Johnson.
The characters by which the several classes of insects are distinguished, have been already explained inpages 218and219; their transformations have likewise been fully described; I shall now proceed to enumerate the best methods of obtaining them in their different states. Justice to the merits of two eminent naturalists[158]obliges me to mention, that to them I am indebted for a considerable part of these instructions.
[158]Lettsom’s Naturalist’s Companion; Curtis’s Instructions for Collecting and Preserving Insects. Both these tracts are now become very scarce.
[158]Lettsom’s Naturalist’s Companion; Curtis’s Instructions for Collecting and Preserving Insects. Both these tracts are now become very scarce.
Of all the different classes or orders of insects, that calledLEPIDOPTERAis not only one of the most numerous, but the most beautiful, with respect to the variety as well as richness oftheir colours; and, as from the peculiar delicacy of their structure, they require greater care to be used in catching, as well as in preserving them, it will be proper first to speak of, and be more particular in the directions concerning them.
There are two methods of collecting insects of this kind; first, by breeding; secondly, by catching them in their fly state: of these, the former is by much the preferable mode; as, besides the pleasure which arises from observing the gradual progress of the insects from their egg or caterpillar to their perfect or fly state, they may be killed before they have sustained the smallest injury in the farina or meal of their wings by flying.
The difficulty likewise in procuring the most beautiful and valuable insects of this class in their fly state, renders this method by far the most eligible. Most of the sphinges of Linnæus, or, as they are usually called, hawk-moths, are but seldom met with in their fly state, and when seen on the wing, generally elude the swiftest pursuit; but in their caterpillar state they are frequently found, and easily taken. Thus the caterpillar of the sphinx atropos or jasmine hawk-moth, the largest and most beautiful species of moth this country produces,[159]is often found feeding on the jasmine and potatoe, and sometimes on green elder; thesphinx elpenor or elephant hawk-moth, on the Galium palustre or white ladies-bed-straw; the sphinx ocellata or eyed hawk-moth, on the willow and apple-trees; sphinx tiliæ or lime hawk-moth, on the lime-tree; sphinx lagustri or privet hawk-moth, on the privet; phalæna pavonia or emperor-moth, on the briar, black-thorn, willow, &c. and so of a great number of others.