250 MOUNTING SECTIONS OF CEREAL 



find the hoar frost on the under surface of the leaves. Now, that 

 is positive proof that the hoar frost has not fallen from the air, but 

 has risen from the earth. And hoar frost is frozen dew. 



Dew, then, mostly rises from the ground, and what used to be 

 thought dew is the active exudation of the healthy grass. These 

 two facts are now established. Brilliant globules are produced by 

 the vital action of the plant, showing life in one of the most 

 charming forms in the phenomena of Nature."^/ourna/ of 

 Horticulture. 



(Tutting anb flDounting Sectione of Cereal 

 (Braine aub Starcb^ ^ubei6/' 



By J. D. Hyatt. Plate XIV. 



THE reason for the present exposition is not the claim to the 

 discovery of anything new in the methods adopted, but 

 the remembrance of the difficulties which I have lately 

 encountered, together with a consideration of the fact that, during 

 my twenty years' membership in this Society, the American Micro- 

 scopical Society, and the American Microscopical Postal Club, I 

 have never yet seen, on exhibition, a section of wheat or other 

 grain. While we have had before us sections of almost all con- 

 ceivable organic and inorganic substances, it seems a little remark- 

 able that a microscopical study of such great economic importance 

 as that of the cereal grains should have been omitted. It is true 

 that we find drawings and descriptions of such sections in our 

 botanical works and agricultural reports, but we all know how 

 such descriptions compare in interest with a view of the objects 

 themselves. 



My principal motive, however, in presenting these sections to 

 you this evening is to illustrate the educational value of the micro- 

 scope in our public schools. Dr. Julien, in his interesting and 

 admirable address before this Society on " Microscopy in the 

 Scheme of Education," has advocated in very forcible terms the 

 value of the microscope in arresting the attention, and developing 

 * From the Journal of the New York Microscopical Society. 



