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C 47 j
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ftisVHfi Tiejenntia, or Ejacnlatorta, which cohfift, at firft, f a thick, fungous Matter, very narrow, but growing fenfibly wider, and then again narrower ; in the winding Meanders whereof it is colle&ed, its Motion abated, fur- jher elaborated, and conceited, and at laft driven into the Fejicvlee SeMmales, in the various Cells and Meatus's whereof it is receiv'd, laid up, fix'd, fhicken'd, wbi- ten'd, and railed to its laft Perfection : in which State j t js called Seed.
It is obferved, that no Humour in the Body is ge- nerated foflowly, meets wirh 16 in any Means to retard \x or to elaborate, and -concoct ir, when at reft, as the Seed. Some imagine that, in its whole retarded Progrefs, befides what is apparent, there is Ibmething {fill added to it from the minute nervous Veficles ; and Ibmething taken away, by the various Lymphatics, and difcharg'cl thereby into the Venous Veficles of the Corpus 'Pyraini- 0g t and the little Veins of the Vejkultb Seminales, and thence into the Humours of the whole Body : Soerhaave takes both the one and the other to be very probable.
The Seed, or Humour, thus form'd in the Tefticles, ^erafiatiCt ifttftf %>eferentra, and Veficula Se?ninales,bt\ng, when new, diluted with a little warm Water, and view'd with a good Microfcope, is teen to confift of innumera- ble, little, oblong, living, Eel-like Animalcula floating in the other Part of this Humour. This is always obferv'd in the Seed of all Men, Quadrupedes, Birds, Fifties, am- phibious Animals, and Infects. Upon comparing this with the Bulk, Figure, Place, Change, £#-. of the Carina of the Chick defcribed by Malpighi, and with the known Law of Nature obferv'd in the Generation of Frogs - 7 it appears highly probable, that the Animalcula of the Male Seed, contain the Rudiments, or Stamina, df the future Human Body 5 and the more fo, fince, whenever the Teffcicles, or this Humour is wanting, there is always Sterility on the Side of the Male. M. Fee-zven- Voeck, the firft Difcoverer of thefe Animalcula, and many after him, make no Scruple to call them true Fcttus's, little Mtny and fome have even pretended to dilcover fomewhat of the Human Figure therein. But Verheyen, and others after him, deny the Exiftence of any iuch Animalcula, maintaining. That 'tis only the inteftine Motion of the Parts of the Seed kept on Foot by the Warmth thereof, that exhibits this Appearance, which fanciful Perfbns have improv'd into frisking Animalcula ; and urging, in Confirmation hereof, That no fboner is the Warmth gone, than all Appearance of Animals: ceafes : But this, notwithftanding the Doctrine of the Animalcula. in Semine, is now generally received. See Animalcula.
Some admit of four feveral Kinds of Seed : The Seed ot the 'itej}icles i that of the Vefiwla Seminales, that of the Trojlares, and that of the Glands of the Penis. The two firft, which we have defcribed as one and the lame Humour, only in different Stages, thofe Authors take to be different, as not being able to find any ftricT Communication between the ( Z)ejcrciitia and the Veficulie-j but that Communication is fully fhewn, by Dr. Tirake, fb that nothing needs further, to fhew the Seeds the fame. The Liquor of the Projlatcs, and that of the Glands of the Perns are generally allowed not to be any true Seed, no more than that emitted by Women : Nor is there any good Reafon why either of them fhould be called fo, as their Appearance is very different, and as other fiifficient Ules are affign'd for them, viZi To line and lubricate ihe Farts, that the Seed, Urine, ££>c. may pais more freely, and without adhering. See Prostates,
The Seminal Liquor, however, fuch as emitted for Ufe, is a Mixture of feveral Liquors, pour'd at the fame Time into the common Canal of the Urethra, either from the Glands that have fecreted them, or the Refervoirs that have kept them. M. Zju Ferney obferves, That in diffe- rent Species, the Number and Structure of thefe Organs is different. In Man, the Principal are the FeficulcC Se- winales, and the Proftat.es, befides what was difcovered hy Mr. Cowper, viz>, A Number of new glandulous Bo- dies on each Side the Urethra, whofe excretory Duels °pen into the Urethra, towards the Root of the Yard. M. du Verney has found, that the fame arelikewife in nioft other Animals, and placed in the fame Manner. 'Pis controverted, whether or no the Liquor filtrated hereby, be neceffary to Generation. M.deVemey thinks "is, and his chief Reafon is, That in Animals that have keen caftrated, thefe Glands, as well as all the other Sources of Generation, are found dried up, and decay'd. M. Littre "ppoles to this, that the Vejicul<e Seminales, and Proftates, having little Cells, where their filtrated Liquor is depo- sed, 'tis eafily conceiv'd that their Humours may wait ionic Time, for an Occafion of being emitted ; but that tnefe ncw <j> ro Jfatcs, or Glands, of Mr. Copper, having n ° fuch Refervoirs, their Liquor muff ooze out into the
Cavity of the Urethra, in Proportion, as it is feparated, and be deftined for fome continual, not a momentary, or occafional Ufe. He adds, That as the excretory Duels of thefe Glands traverfe the fpongeous Body of the Urethra, for two Inches e'er they penetrate into its Cavity, and that in the fole Moments when the Liquor fhould be difcharg'd, to affift in Generation, that fpon- geous Body is extremely dilated, and its Sides in a State of Compreffion, the Liquor muft be then lefs difpofed to a Difcharge than ever. See Erection.
For the Fare- of the Seed when lodged in the Uterus ; See Conception, Generation, ££c.
Seed in Botany, a Product of a Plant, whereby the Species is propagated, See Plant. The Seed is fre- quently the Fruic of the Plant, as is the Cafe in moft Herbs: See Fruit. Sometimes it is only a Part in- clofed in the Fruit, and that in Form, either of Grain,' Pippin, Kernel, or Berry. See Grain, Pippin, &c.
Tne Seed is the natural Gfffpring of the Flower, and that for whole Production all the Parts of rhe Flower are intended ; So th'at when this is once well form'd, thefe feveral Parts of the Flower dwindle, and difappear. See Flower.
'Tis produced from the Farina of the Apices,' let fall on the Head of the Piftil, and. thence forwarded to an Uterus, at the Bottom thereof, divided into feveral Cells ; where, coming to receive the nutritious Juice of the Plant, it is firft ioften'd, then iwell'd, increaled botW in Matter and Bulk, and at length comes to its State or Maturity. For, more particular Account of the Manner of the Generation of the Seed, fee Generation.
T'hat the whole Plant is contained in the Seed, is an Opinion as old as Fmpedocles, and is ftill the prevailing Dodtine among the Generality of Naturalifts. Experi- ence, the Microfcope, and the Modern Philofophy, give it great Countenance. In effect, by the Ufe of good Microfcopes, we dilcover, in the Seed, feveral of the Parts of the furure Tree, only in Miniature 5 par- ticularly a little Root, called the Radicle, and the Stem called the 'Plumule. See Radicle, and Plumule.
In Malpighi^ Life, we have a Debate between him and Seignior P'numphetti, Provoft of the Garden at Rome, Whether the whole Plant be actually contained in the Seed : The Affirmative is maintained by Malpighi, with cogent Arguments ; among which this is one, T'hat in a Kidney Bean e'er fown, the Eye, affifted with a Microfcope, eafily difcovers Leaves, a Bud,- and even' the Knots, or Implantations of the Leaves on the Stem. The Stem itfelf is very confpicuous, and plainly confilts of Woody Fibres, and Series's of little Urrides. And whereas Seignior "Triumphetti had objected, That by Po- verty, Trani'plantation, t£c. feveral Plants degenerate into others, particularly Wheat into Tares, and Tares' again into Wheat: In Anfwer to this, which is one of the ftrongeft Objections againft that Opinion, Malpighi replies, That he is not fully fatisfied as to the Truth of the Objection, for that both himfelf, and hrs Friends, making the Experiment, no Metamorphofis of the Wheat fueceeded : But granting the Metamorphofis, 'tis the Soil, or the Air, or the Culture, is in the Fault. Now, from a morbid, and monilrous Condition of Nature, there is' no inferring her genuine and permanent Stare. See De- generation-
To the fame Effect, Mr. Zeewenhocck, after a nice Obfervation of an Orange Kernel he had made to ger- minate in his Pocket, &c. concludes, « Thus we fee' <c how fmall a Particle,- no bigger than a coarfe Sand, " is increas'd, gjfcS, " A plain Demonftration, that the Plant, and all that belongs to it, was actually in the Seedi viz. The Body, Root, &c. Mr. c lTerham adds, That of all the Seeds he has viewed, except the Maple,- the Plant appears the plaineft to the naked Eye in the Nux Vomica.
The Fecundity of Plants, in the Production of Seeds, is very furprizing. M. %)odart, in rhe Memoir's of the French Academy of Sciences, computes, That an Elm, liv- ing 100 Years, ordinarily produces of it ftlf 315000060; Grains ; and adds, That had its Crown, of Head, been cut off, it would have put forth as many Branches, within half ah Inch of the Place where it was cut, as it had be- fore 5 and that at whatever Height it were cut off, the Effect would have been ftill the fame. Hence he con- etudes, That the whole Trunk, from the Ground ro the Rife of the Branches, is full of the Principles, ot little Embryo's of Branches, which, it is true, cannot all ap- pear a't once, but which being conceiv'd, as feparated by Circular Rims, half an Inch high, compbfe fb many Sets of Branches, each whereof is ready to appear, 2nd will really appear if the Head be lopp'd off juft over it". Now thefe invi'fible Branches exift as really as thofe tfhich appear. For whence elfe fhould they come ? The
Trunk
