Natural History, #c. 423 



Lately, M. Amici, the celebrated Modenese professor, has published 

 some observations which he hopes may throw light on the inquiry. 

 It is well known that, in the spring, the sap of the vine exudes 

 copiously if the plant is ever so slightly wounded, and that the 

 discharge which, in consequence of its limpidity, is fancifully called 

 the * tears ' of the vine, becomes, after a short exposure to the air, 

 of a rusty brown. M. Amici states that he found this substance, 

 when examined under the microscope, to consist of long interlaced 

 filaments, which were generally simple, but sometimes subdivided 

 into two or three bifurcations. These filaments, or tubes, consisted 

 of numerous joints separated by diaphragms, and, while some of the 

 cells were filled only with air, others contained little moveable 

 granules. Upon examining the vine sap in its limpid state, it was 

 found to be entirely destitute of any trace of organization, but it was 

 seen that the filamentous matter made its appearance upon being 

 exposed to the sun for six hours, twelve hours after having been 

 collected. One of these filaments was seen to multiply its original 

 volume 24 times in the space of ten hours, and to have at the same 

 time given birth to two young buds. Wishing to follow the deve- 

 lopment of this vegetation still further, the same object was left 

 eleven hours longer upon the field of the microscope ; at the end of 

 this period it had grown from 0.2375 of a millimetre in length to 

 2.25, and had ramified and subdivided like a tree, and presenting 

 joints formed at intervals by diaphragms ; some of these joints 

 contained very small granules, which circulated completely in the 

 cavity of the cellules and of the tubes. This organization is ob- 

 viously that of a Conferva ; but M. Amici justly remarks that its 

 constant existence in the tears of the vine makes it improbable 

 that it should be of such a nature ; and, at all events, the fact is 

 one highly deserving the attention of physiologists. 



rT"~" r 

 Fig. 1. , 



2. 



1. 



Figs. 1, 2, and 3 are magnified 1500 times; Fig. 4, 500 times. 

 I is one variety of the filaments found in the red mucilage ; it 

 includes two joints formed by diaphragms; in the part between 

 them are the small granules, which circulate round the whole 

 included space as in the Cliara. Fig. 2 is another variety of tube 

 with various compartments or vacuities between the joints; these 



