28 JOURNAL OF THE [January, 



of the openings, some are oblong, some elliptical ; and the axes 

 of these fissures, following the striations of the walls of the up- 

 right cells, are parallel to one another. 



" In the marginal cells of a medullary plate, I have discovered 

 no starch grains, but in the intermediate rows of cells they 

 abound, especially in the alburnum. Their quantity gradually 

 decreases in the duramen, and in the pith they are almost want- 

 ing. The grains are ovoid, and have but two-thirds the size of 

 those in rice." 



MISCELLANEA. 



That Man is certainly the happiest, who is able to find out the 

 greatest Number of reasonable and useful Amusements, easily 

 attainable and within his Power : and, if so, he that is delighted 

 with the Works of Nature, and makes them his Study, must un- 

 doubtedly be happy ; since every Animal, Flower, Fruit, or In- 

 sect, nay, almost every Particle of Matter, affords him an Enter- 

 tainment. Such a Man never can feel his Time hang heavy on 

 his Hands, or be weary of himself, for want of knowing how to 

 employ his Thoughts : each Garden or Field is to him a Cabinet 

 of Curiosities, every one of which he longs to examine fully; and 

 he considers the whole Universe as a Magazine of Wonders, 

 which infinite Ages are scarce sufficient to contemplate and ad- 

 mire enough. — Henry Baker, in " The Microscope Made Easy," 

 published at London in 1742. 



' If fresh green leaves be immersed in boiling water and 



afterwards in alcohol, their chlorophyll is extracted without rup- 

 ture of the cells, and the leaves become blanched. Placed then 

 in a strong alcoholic solution of iodine, the decolored leaf will be 

 stained a buff-yellow if no starch be present, and blue-black if 

 much be present ; and there will be intermediate shades of color 

 corresponding to intermediate amounts of starch. 



' The formation of starch is dependent on light. The starch 

 formed in the leaf during the day, may disappear completely 

 during the night. It disappears in the form of soluble glucoses 

 which travel through the vascular bundles to the growing parts 

 of the plant. Though this process takes place chiefly in the night, 

 it goes on slowly by day also, but is then masked by the much 

 more energetic production of starch.' — Prof. J. Sachs* 



*Cf. Jour. Roy. Mic. Soc, IV. (18;M), p. 589 ; also Sci.-Gossip, 1884, p. 273. 



