432 PROCEEDINGS OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



the Wood of Palms." The attention of the author was directed to this subject 

 by the remarks of Professor Lindley in his Introduction to Botany. Being 

 situated where he had access to abundance of Palms, he determined to test the 

 truth of the views of Mohl. He accordingly made a vertical section of a Palm- 

 tree about four inches in circumference, and whose leaves were about three 

 inches separate from each other. Having done this> he could trace the fibre of 

 the wood proceeding from the base of the leaves, passing from this point to the 

 centre of the stem, at an angle of about 1 8 degrees. It then turned inwards and 

 outwards to within a few lines of the bark, forming an arc about two feet and a 

 half in length. The fibres of the wood were distinctly traced for some way up 

 into the substance of each leaf. Several Palms of varying age and size were 

 examined, and all exhibited the same appearance. The author then proceeded 

 to answer the following queries of Dr. Lindley in his work : — 1. Is the whole of 

 the lower part of the stems of Palms choked up by the multitude of descending 

 fibres ? Answer. — The fibres of the leaves do not descend from the upper leaves 

 to the bottom of the plant, but terminate at various distances, according to the 

 situation of the leaf; the fibres of the older leaves extending further than the 

 more recent ones. 



Question 2. — Is the lower part of the bark harder and much more filled with 

 woody fibres than the upper ? Answer. — The fibres of the lower leaves being 

 longest, make the lowest portions of wood harder than those of the upper, by the 

 greater quantity of interlacement produced. The lower part of the stems of the 

 Palms is the only portion used by the natives of the country in which they grow 

 ior economical purposes. 



Professor Lindley observed that this paper confirmed the views of the struc- 

 ture both of endogens and exogens, which had been increasingly embraced by 

 botanists. In the first place, the views of Mohl on the structure of endogens 

 were confirmed. There was, however, a slight difference between Mr. Gardner 

 and Professor Mohl ; the latter having stated that the woody fibres of endogens 

 terminated in their cortigal integument, whilst the former had traced them only 

 within a few lines of this point. In the next place, the paper confirmed the 

 theory of the formation of wood from the emanation of fibres from the leaves. 

 Whatever might be the difference between the arrangement of the fibres of exo- 

 gens and endogens, there could be no doubt that their origin was the same. Mr. 

 Gardner had referred, in his paper, to the glandular disks on the woody fibre 

 that were, at one time, thought to characterize the order Coniferce. He, would, 

 however, draw the attention of the Section to a fact that had lately been dis- 

 covered, and not hitherto published, that these glandular disks existed on all the 

 woody fibres of plants that yielded resinous matter. Brown first discovered 

 them in the wood of Tasmannia ( Winteracece), and Griffiths had since demon- 

 strated them in Sphcerostema ( Schizandrece). 



