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 ON THE ORGANS AND MODE OF FECUNDATION IN

the Essay now submitted to the Society, my principal object is to give an account of some observations, made chiefly in the course of the present year, on the structure and economy of the sexual organs in Orchideæ and Asclepiadeæ,—the two families of phænogamous plants which have hitherto presented the most important objections to the prevailing theories of vegetable fecundation.

But before entering on this account, it is necessary to notice the various opinions that have been held respecting the mode of impregnation in both families: and in concluding the subject of Orchideæ, I shall advert to a few other points of structure in that natural order.