136 ANAGALLTS ARVENSIS. 



As this, however, is intended to be a microscopical paper, I will 

 attempt to describe the hidden beauties of this exquisite little wild 

 flower, commencing with The Root, which is fibrous, of a dark 

 brown colour, and having a few knots in its structure. There is 

 nothing particularly striking in its appearance under the microscope. 

 The more delicate fibres are branched, with an external develop- 

 ment of large, somewhat rectangular cells, which surround a darker 

 central system of dotted tubes closely packed together. 



The Stem of Anagallis arvensis is procumbent, dividing into 

 several branches, which trail over the ground on every side of the 

 point of attachment to the earth. The stems are acutely angled, 

 although they appear of square form to the unassisted eye. Under 

 the microscope they show a partially winged character at each of 

 the four angles (see Fig 4). The transverse sections which I have 

 prepared show the beautiful chains of single cells which ornament 

 the exterior portion of the stem. The epidermal cuticle is sparsely 

 covered with minute glandular hairs, and the stomata are readily 

 distinguished upon the epidermal tissue. In transverse sections 

 of the stem, the exogenous character of the plant is well seen, the 

 pith surrounded by the fibro-vascular bundles which divide it 

 from the outer cortical bark-cells, and these are enclosed by the 

 epidermis. The central portion of the pith is composed of very 

 large, irregular-formed cells. Outside these are cells of hexagonal 

 form, and we may suppose that in the most mature stems the 

 centre would become quite hollow. The fibro-vascular bundles 

 which surround the pith are packed very closely together, giving 

 strength and solidity to the stem. The spiral fibre may be seen 

 very distinctly in stained and mounted preparations, as in Fig. 5. 

 This spiral fibre, or tracheae, as it is sometimes called, appears of 

 flat ribbon-like character, and forms a beautiful object under the 

 ;|-inch objective. Exterior to the fibro-vascular bundles the woody 

 fibre is found composed of fusiform tubes mixed with dotted cells, 

 while some of the fibro-vascular tissue shows a decided annular 

 structure (Fig. 6). The fibro-vascular and the woody cells so 

 completely surround the pith, that they appear at first sight to form 

 an impenetrable sheath around the medulla, but careful focussing 

 will show communications from pith to bark, which in older stems 

 would become the medullary rays of the exogenous division of the 



