PLANT CELL MEMBRANES 



267 



|f#^' if^-#4 



Figure 102. X-ray diffraction patterns of cellulose, a, Cellulose particles from cotton 

 fibers separated by 18-hour treatment with HCl; b, pulverized cotton fibers; c, paralleled 

 cotton fibers; d, paralleled ramie fibers. 



formation and structure would seem to have been justified by the fact that 

 the particulate structure of the cellulose fibril was first observed in a fungus 

 as a result of optical improvements which had been made to meet the 

 microscopic requirements of unstained bacteria. 



These observations of fibril formation recalled the earlier reports of 

 similar phenomena by Strasburger ^^ and Wiesner.'^ In addition to report- 

 ing the existence of "microsomes" or " dermatosomes " in the living proto- 

 plasm and their behavior in building up the cell membranes, Wiesner had 

 sho^\^l that the granular dermatosomes maintain their identity in the fibrils 

 of the mature membrane and had demonstrated the fact by disintegrating 

 the membrane of the cotton fiber into lamellae, the lamellae in turn into 

 fibrils, and the fibrils into dermatosomes by treatment with hydrochloric 



