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University of California Publications in Botany [Vol. 5 



scissors at the point of union of limb and tube. This operation is 

 simplified by the soft condition of the tissues after being immersed in 

 formalin for some weeks, which causes the whole flower to straighten 

 out when drawn from the washing water. The point at which the cut 

 should be made is indicated by a slight groove occurring at the point 

 of union of tube and limb. The limb and tube thus separated are 

 placed in a dish of water so that the former may flatter out normally. 

 It is then drawn up onto a piece of glass and transferred thus flattened 

 to a large glass plate. The tube is then picked out of the water and 

 placed beside the limb on the glass plate. This plate is cut approxi- 

 mately ten and one-fourth by twelve inches to fit into the frame of the 

 measuring apparatus, where it is held firmly by the set screws gg 

 (pi. 54). 



Figure 1 



Parallel to the long axis of the glass plate two or three lines from 

 two to three inches apart are drawn with a diamond. The cut ends of 

 the tubes and one lobe of the limbs are brought to touch one of these 

 lines. The arrangement is diagrammatically illustrated in figure 1. 

 The size of the flowers will, obviously, determine the number which 

 can be thus arranged on a single glass plate. 



The flowers arranged as shown in figure 1 on the glass plate are 

 put into the machine. The operator faces the circular disc (pi. 54, a) 

 and the knurled head j (pi. 54) is turned to the right or left until the 

 line n, marked on the movable bar m, is directly under the first of the 

 lines scratched on the plate glass. By loosening the set screw h (pi. 54) 

 the circular disc is swung around until the zero point is directly behind 

 the indicator I. The set screw /( is then tightened and the knurled 

 head j is turned to the right until the line n, which is visible through 

 the glass plate, is directly on a line with the corolla lobes h, c (fig. 1). 



