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Show mens aa a Book IV. The Anatomy a iceothers. “Tho the Separation offomeParts, as well as the 4 ji ) therefore of my Thoughts concerning this Matter, is as follows. 5. s. AndFirft, it (ems, That the Attire ferves to difcharge {ome redundant Part of the sa Werk preparatory to the Geveration of the Seed. In particular, that as the Folzature ferveth to carryoff the olatile Saline Sulphur : So the Atfire,to minorate adjuft the Aereal; to the end, the Seed may become the more Oyly, and its Principles; the better fixed. And therefore the Folfature erally hath a much ftronger Odour, than the Attire : becaufe the Saline Sulphuris ftronger, than an Aerial, which is too fubtile to affect the Senfe. Hence alfo it is, that the Colour ofthe Parts of the Aitire, is ufually White,or Yelow,never Red: the former, depending upona greater participation of Aer 5 the latter, of Sulphur, Ladd farther, That the moft Volatile and Aerial Sulphur 5 being by means of thefe Partsmuch difcharged 3 it may hereby come to pafé, not only that the Seedis more Oplie,and its Principles more fixed ; but alfo, that the Bodyor Parenchyma thereof, is fo compatt and clofe: For although it confifts of Bladders, yet fuch, as are Twenty times {maller than in any other Part of a Plant of the like bignefs. Whereas, were the Aer copioufly mixed with the sap here, asin the Pith, Fruit, and other Parenchymous Parts; it wouldgive fo quick a Ferment to the Sap, as to dilate and amplify the Bladders of 9. §. but only an Adofewlation of Parts : And fo in many Fifpes. Neither in others, doth the Pewis ever enter any further than the Neck of the Womb. Nor doth perhaps the semen it {elf or i€it doth, it can by no means be thought, bodily or asto its grofs Sub/fan ce, to enter the Mewmbranes, in which every Conception, or the Liquor intended for it, before any Coition, is involved; but only fome fubtle and vivifick Effya via, to which the vifible Body of the Semen, isbut a Vehicle.” An the like Ejfirviz may be veryeafily transfufed from the above {aid Particles into the Seed-Cafe or Womb ofa Plant. to. §. If any one fhall require the Similitude to hold in every Thing 5 he would not have a Plent to refembl e, but to be, an Avineal, CHAP VI Of the Timeof the Generation of the Flower. Wherefore, as the Seed-Cafe is the Womb 5 fo the Attire ( which always ftands upon or round about it ) and thofe Parts of the Sap herinto difcharged 5 are, asit were, the Menfés or Flowers, by which the Sap in the Womb, is duly qualified, for the approaching Geveration of the Seed, 6. §. And as the young and early Attire before it Opens, anfwers to the Atenfes in the Femal : {o isit probable, that afterward when it opensorcracks, it performs the Office of the Male. This is hinted from the Shape of the Parts. For inthe Florid Attire, the Blade doth not unaptly refemble a {mall Penis, with the Sheath uponit, as its Prepuszum. And in the Seed-like Attire, the feveral Thece, are like fo many little Tefficles. And the Globulets and other {mall Particles upon the Blade or Penis, and inthe Thece, are as the Vegetable Sperme, Which, fo foon as the Penis is exerted, or the Tefficles come to break, falls down upon the Seed-Ca/fe or Womb, and fo Touches it with a Prof. fick Virtue. 7. $. Confentaneous heretoit is alfo obfervable, That thofe Herbs generally have the Seed-lrke Attire,which either producea greater Quan- tity of Seed, ora Perennial Root : and that there is no Tree, with the Florid Attire. Asif the other, becaufe it contains a far greater Proportion of the abovefaid Particles, that is, of Sperm; tis able to beget amore Numerous, Vivaceous, or Gigantic Birth. 8. §. That thefame Plant is both Male and Female, may the ra- ther be believed, in that Swzils, and fome other Animals, are f{ach. Andthe Parts which imitate the Afen/es, and the Sperm, are not precifely the fame: the former, being the External Parts of the Attire, and the Sap, which feeds them; the latter, the fmall Particles or moyst Powder which the External inclofe. 173 nee And that thele Particles, only byfalling on the Uterus, thould communicate to it or to the Sap therein , a Prolifick Virtues it may feem the more credible, from the manner wherein Coition is made by fome Animals; asby many sirds, where there is no Lntromiffion, the Seed,beyondits prefent compaét and durable Texture ; andfo expofe it, either to a precipitant Growth, or fudden Rot. of Flowers. ee, HE Time in which the Floweris Genera ted or Formed isa Providencein Nature, whereof, I do a Jit- tle wonder, that no one, amongft fo many obfer- Z versofPlants, hath ever yet taken anynotice, It is © therefore to be remarked, That all Flowers are for> ied or perfectly finifhed, in all their Parts, long ah NE before they appear in fight; ufually Three or Four Months, and fometimes half a year, or more. And that in all Peres. nial Plants, thofe Flowers which appear and are called the Flowers of any one years are not formed in that year; but were actuall y in Being, and entirely formed in all Parts, the year before 5 as in many Herbs, and in all Shrubs and Trees. 2, §. This will beft be feen by fome Inftances. So the Flower of Mexereon, which opens in Fanuary, is entirely formed about the midle of Avguft in the year foregoing. At which time, the GreeLea ves of the Bud being cautioufly removed, the Leaves of the Flower, and the 14 b 6 3Thece Seminiformes or Seed-like Attire, encompafling the Seed-Ca fe, through an indifferent Gif, areall diftin@ly vifible, 3. §. The like maybe feenin Sirynga, and other Shrubs, and in Trees. In. as manyof which, as are Frugiferons, the Fruit alfo, which an{wers to the Seed-Caé in other Plawts, is about the fame time entire- ly formed. 4. §. And fo in Herbs 5 as the Flower of Afarum, which appeareth in April or May, is entirely formedin Auguft or July of the foregoin year. For there are here, as well as in Trees, Two Sorts of Buds 5 {ome Tah. 64, which are compofed only of Greex Leaves; and fome which alfo contein a Flower and the Seed-Cafe. Soin Bears-foot, by fome called the January Rofe, the Flower-Buds, whichopen in January are all formed in or before the Monthof Avgu/t in the year preceding, 5. §. |
