GENUS FRITILLARIA. 



505 



CI PA CA 

 PC PS 



With chromic acid the grains begin to react at once and are complctelj' dissolved in 20 seconds. 

 Tlie process is the same qualitatively as that oljserved in F. meleagris. 



Reaction with pyrogallic acid begins in 20 seconds. Several of the grains are gelatinized in a 

 minute and all in 1 J^ minutes. The reaction is qualitatively the same as in F. meleagris, but a bubble 

 is not so frequently noted at the hilum. The gelatinized grains arc quite regular in outUne, many 

 of them having at the base a serrated capsular coat. 



The grains begin to react with ferric chloride at once by the formation of a dark striated border. 

 Gelatinization begins in Ij^ minutes. Many are gelatinized in 2]/^ minutes and all in 10 minutes. 

 A transverse cleft or a bubble at the hilum is not so frequently observed as in F. meleagris, but the 

 reaction is qualitatively the same. 



With Purdy's solution some grains begin to react at once. Most of the grains are gelatinized 

 in a minute and all in 2\^ minutes. No bubble was observed at the hilum. There is a frequent 

 invagination at the proximal end, or a drawing together of the sides during the process of gelatiniz- 

 ation. The gelatinized grains are fairly regular in outline and rounded at the proximal end, varying 

 much in shape and size. The process is qualitatively the same as the grains of F. meleagris. 



STARCH OF FRITILLARIA IMPERIALIS VAR. AURORA. (Plate 26, figs. 155 and 156. Chart 117.) 



Histological Characteristics. In form the grains are nearly always simple and are isolated, 

 except a few in small aggregates. Rare compound grains of few components are seen and there 

 are no pressure facets on the isolated grains. The surface is rarely irregular, irregularities being 

 due almost solely to somewhat rounded projections, usually from the proximal end. The con- 

 spicuous forms are the broadly triangular with rounded 

 angles and curved base, and clam-shell-shaped; also ovoid, 

 nearly round, and broadly elliptical grains with a flattened 

 distal end. The small grains are round, oval, and ovoid. 

 There is a marked tendency to roundness in these grains. 



The hilum is a small, round, indistinct spot, usually 

 eccentric from one-fourth to one-fifth, commonly about 

 one-fifth, of the longitudinal axis. The hilum may be 

 fissured, usually is a single, straight narrow, or sometimes 

 broad, longitudinal line. Sometimes a longitudinal line, 

 with one or two diagonal lines, passes from a common 

 center. 



The lamellcB are fairly distinct, regular, usually fine 

 circles or ellipses, or segments of circles, varying some- 

 what in size and distinctness in different grains, and not so 

 fine, but more distinct, near the hilum than in other parts 

 of the grain. There are about 28 on the larger grains. 



The grains varj' in size; the small are 4 by 4^; the 

 larger broad grains are 52 by 62^; the broad but elongated 

 forms are 60 by 46/i in length and breadth. The com- 

 mon sizes of the latter two forms are, respectively, 38 by 42;;: and 30 by 20m in length and breadth. 



Polariscopic Properties. The figure is eccentric, distinct, and fairly clear-cut. Its fines become 

 broader and somewhat less clearly outlined at some parts of their length, and are sometimes more 

 or less bent. 



The degree of polarization is high, not varjdng much in different grains, but varying somewhat 

 in different aspects of the same grain, being highest when the grain is \newed on end or edge. It is 

 much higher than that of the grains of F. meleagris. 



With selenite the quackants are fairly well defined, regular in shape, and unequal in size. The 

 colors are usually pure. 



Iodine Reactions. With 0.25 per cent Lugol's solution the grains all color a fairly deep blue- 

 violet; nnth 0.125 per cent solution they color rather fightly and the color deepens fairly rapidly. 

 It is less than that of the grains of F. meleagris. After heating in water until all the grains are com- 

 pletely gelatinized, the solution colors fairly deeply and the gelatinized grains deeply on the addi- 

 tion of iodine. After boiling for 2 minutes the solution colors deeply and most of the grain-residues 

 fairly. The capsules all color a violet when an excess of iodine is added. 



Curve of Reaction-Intensities of Starch of Fritillaria 

 itnperialis var. aurora. 



