business, was unwilling to embark in the new branches for which Wedgwood had so great a taste; the young potter, therefore, returned to Burslem in 1759, and set up for himself in a small thatched manufactory, where he continued to make such articles as I have already named. His business prospering, he soon took a second manufactory, where he made white stoneware; and a third, at which was fabricated the improved cream-coloured ware by which he gained so much celebrity. Of this new ware, Wedgwood presented some articles to Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III., who thereupon ordered a complete table-service, desired it might henceforth be called "Queen's ware," and appointed him her potter. It was, however, from 1760 to 1762, that his most in'teresting discoveries took place. Six different kinds of potteryone, a composition resembling jasper and other beautiful stones and earthenware-made their appearance at the same time from his workshop in Staffordshire, to the admiration and astonishment of all who beheld them. He now opened a shop in London, and took a partner to conduct it. This gentleman, named Bentley, was a highly educated man, and moved not only in excellent society, but was acquainted with the most eminent patrons of art. His knowledge and taste thus vastly assisted Wedgwood in all the higher branches of his manufactures, besides procuring for him the loan of valuable specimens of antique sculpture, vases, cameos, gems, medallions, seals, and oriental porcelain, to copy or to serve the purpose of models. Amongst others who were thus liberal to Wedgwood was Sir William Hamilton, the English ambassador at Naples, who, during his residence there from 1764 to 1800, formed a splendid collection of ancient vases, now in the British Museum. Many of these lovely relics of an immortal age of art, Sir William freely lent to our great English potter, whose ingenious workmen not only copied them to marvellous perfection, but led Wedgood himself to make one of his greatest discoveries, that of painting on such articles without the glossy appearance of ordinary painting on porcelain; an art practised by the ancient Etruscans, but lost through many, many ages. Another, and the most celebrated work of Wedgwood, were his copies of the Barberini Vase. This precious work was in the hands of the great potter a year; he made fifty copies and sold them at fifty guineas each; but the cost of their production was so great as to exceed this sum, and left him, it is said, a loser. The Barberini, since known as the Portland Vase, has now been for a considerable period in the British Museum; and though & few years since some malicious person threw a stone and broke it into countless pieces, yet modern art has restored it, it is said, without a perceptible flaw. (Continued on page 257.) CHAPTER II. THE PARTS OF A PLANT-THE FLOWER (Continued). W. We are going to examine the parts which papa says are so very important the pistils and the stamens. P. You may begin by noticing the stamens (see cut, p. 215). L. I notice, first, their position; they are placed round the pistil. Stamen. W. And I notice their parts. Each stamen has a thin stalk, with a little head upon it. Here is one by itself. P. The stalk of the stamen is called the filament, and the head is called the anther. Let us take notice of the structure of this stamen. Botanists have examined the sepals and petals of flowers, and it has been found that they have the same structure as leaves, having veins, cuticle, and stomata. They are, in fact, leaves; only altered in their form and colour. This is not difficult to believe concerning the sepals and petals, but you would hardly think that the stamens are altered leaves. L. No. They are so very different in their shape, P. The change from a petal to a stamen must, of course, be very gradual; but this may be seen in several plants, such as the peony, the white water lily, and others. Here is a copy of another drawing in Dr. Carpenter's book on Botany. e d Transformation of Petals of White You may see in it how, as the P. Yes; and, what is more, not only do petals become stamens, but stamens also change into petals. It is in this way that single flowers become double ones. The wild rose The has only one whorl of petals, and a great many stamens in the centre; but in the cultivated rose the stamens are changed into petals, so that there are several whorls; it thus becomes a large double flower. difference in the wild anemone of the woods and the double anemone of the garden is caused in the same way. The stamens which form the yellow eye of the single dahlia are also thus changed. But the stamens of flowers are not formed on purpose to become petals. Let us examine one again, and find out its functions. P. This pollen from the anther is one of the parts which, I have told you, is so important. Although it is so fine a dust, you may examine each little grain with a microscope. It is then seen to be nearly globular in shape. Inside it there is a fluid, in which are extremely minute granules. L. They must be very small. dP. Yes. The granules are so small that a powerful microscope is required to see them with. They may be seen moving about in the fluid inside the grain of pollen. W. Now I will say the parts of the stamen. It has a filament and anther. The anther contains yellow grains, called pollen, and the grains of pollen contain little granules. What are they called, papa? P. They may be called the Jerms. the pistil. Here is a drawing of is the pistil. How many parts do you notice in it? L. I see three. I There is the part wat the bottom, erstaan which you called radiody the ovary, the -B18 dmo stalk growing P. The stalk and head of the pistil have different names from those of the stamens. We call the stalk the style and the head the stigma. Pistils, like the other parts, differ in their number and shape. Here is a drawing of a pistil with five styles. The Compound Pistil. ovary also is, you see, divided into five parts. These parts are called carpels. Sometimes we call each carpel, with the stigma and style upon it, a pistil. L. Thus we may either say that there are five pistils, or, that there is a compound pistil with five parts. broorg P. Each carpel, however, is a distinct ovary, and contains ovules. An orange is a large ovary. The eyes of the orange show you where the flower once grew. On opening the orange, The Pistil. upon it, and the you will notice its different head on the stalk. til parts, which are separated from each other only by a thin the stamen to the inside of the skin. Orange. W. Yes, I always divide an orange into those small parts. P. These parts are carpels, and inside each carpel you will find a seed. Ion. You said, papa, that you would tell us why the little ovules are not called seeds. P. I did; these ovules are only unfinished seeds. You may open the ovary of this flower and examine them. W. Here are several unfinished seeds. P. I will put this into the microscope. Now examine it. W. I see that the ovule is not quite closed up. There is an opening in it. ovary? P. In a singular way. When the stamens are ripe, the pollen of the anther falls on the stigma of the pistil. The style of the pistil is hollow, and the grains of pollen force themselves in a curious way down the style into the ovary. Here the germs are received into the unfinished seeds, and the openings in the seeds close. The seed then ripens, but it cannot do so unless it has received one of the germs; therefore, without the germ from the pollen of the stamens, the seeds would be useless. When the seeds have ripened the seed-vessel opens, and the seeds fall out. Here is a drawing of an unripe and a ripe seed-vessel. P. That is left so that somehing else may be added. That "something else" is the germ-is the very small part which will shoot up and form the young plant, when the seed is placed in the ground.. Where do you think these germs come from? Ion. Iremember! They come from the stamens. You said that the granules inside the grains of pollen were called germs. But how can they travel all the way from the top of The ripe seed-vessel, you see, empty. L. Now I see, papa, why the pollen on the stamens is so important. There could be no perfect seeds or new plants without it. W. And now I see why papa calls the flower an organ of reproduction. But it seems to be quite a chance whether any of the pollen from the stamens may fall on the pistil. How is that managed? P. The parts are arranged so that it seldom fails to happen. The stamens are generally taller than the pistil in the upright flowers; while in flowers that hang down, in bell-shaped flowers and others, the pistil is longer than the stamens, and hangs below them. You may notice this in the first flower which we examined (see p. 214). Thus in either way the pollen is almost certain to be carried to the pistil. Sometimes it is carried to the stigma by the wind, and sometimes in a more singular way. You know that the bees visit the flowers and load themselves with pollen. In moving about from one part of the plant to another, they frequently rub some of the pollen they have collected on the stigma, which is sticky. L. That is a very curious way, but how is it known, papa, that such little things as the granules in a grain of pollen are the germs of a new plant? P. By the help of a microscope. It has been seen that the imperfect ovules have not any germ within them, and when the pollen descends the style of the pistil, and enters the ovary, they may be seen entering the ovules, through the little openings which you noticed. One more particular about the stamens, and we will finish the account of the flower. Stamens, like the petals and sepals, differ in their number. There may be some hundreds of stamens in a flower; there may be twenty, there may be none. It is so with the pistils; there are some flowers which only bear pistils, and others which have no pistils. The pistil-bearing flowers are called pistilliferous, and the stamen-bearing flowers are called staminiferous. Ion. But suppose, papa, that a flower has no stamens, where does it get pollen from to perfect the seeds? P. Do you not remember the bees? W. Oh, yes. If the bees come to look for honey in a flower that has only a pistil, and they happen to be carrying any pollen on their legs, it will rub off on to the pistil. L. But suppose there are no bees in the neighbourhood? P. Again, you must not forget the wind; that also helps to carry the pollen. When a plant bears both kinds of flowers, the stameniferous flowers are generally on the upper part; and as the anthers shed their pollen, it falls on the pistilliferous flowers below. But there are some plants which flower under water. How is the pollen to be carried from one flower to another, then? Ion. I do not know. I should think it cannot be carried in the water; it would be lost. The fishes would not carry it; and the bees would not go under water. P. No; it is necessary that the flowers should rise above the water, into the air, and they do so. They therefore have spiral stalks (screw-shaped), which rise up like a spring; the stalks hold the flowers |