10. The RECEPTACLE is the base which connects all the parts of fructification together, and on which they are seated. In some plants this is very conspicuous; and in none more so than the artichoke, of which it forms the eatable part, called the bottom. 11. The Linnæan system of classification of plants is founded upon a supposition that the stamens represent the _male_, and the pistils the _female_ parts of fructification. The whole vegetable creation has been distributed, by Linnæus, into twenty-four _classes_. These are divided into _orders_, which are subdivided into _genera_ or tribes; and these genera are further divided into _species_ or individuals. 12. Of the CLASSES the discriminating characters are taken from the number, connexion, length, or situation of the stamens. In each of the first twenty classes there are stamens and pistils in the same flower; in the twenty-first class, the stamens and pistils are in distinct flowers on the same plant; in the twenty-second, in distinct flowers on different plants; in the twenty-third, in the same flower and also in distinct flowers; and in the twenty-fourth class they are not at all discernible. Thus: The stamens considered according to their: _Classes._ {One 1. Monandria. CLASSES. {Two 2. Diandria. {Three 3. Triandria. {Four 4. Tetrandria. {Five 5. Pentandria. {Number {Number only {Six 6. Hexandria. { { {Seven 7. Heptandria. { { {Eight 8. Octandria. { { {Nine 9. Enneandria. { { {Ten 10. Decandria. { { {About twelve 11. Dodecandria. { { { {and their {Insertion {On the calyx: more than { { { nineteen 12. Icosandria. { { {Not on the calyx: more { { { than nineteen 13. Polyandria. { { { {Proportion {Four: two long andtwo { { unequal { short 14. Didynamia. { {Six: four long andtwo { { short 15. Tetradynamia. { {Connexion by {Filaments {In one set 16. Monadelphia. { { united {In two sets 17. Diadelphia. { { {In three or more sets 18. Polyadelphia. { {Anthers united 19. Syngenesia.