16 JOURNAL OF THE [January, 



Of course in multitudes of instances the end of one cell must 

 meet the ends of two or more cells, to allow for the interposition 

 of radii, as the view advances from axis to periphery — from one 

 ring or film to the next outlying ring or film; but these instances 

 are rare compared with the abounding number of regularly dis- 

 posed cells in any one section when magnified. 



These cells will average about .004 of an inch in diameter by 

 .014 of an inch in length. The cell walls are so thickened by 

 internal deposit that frequently the lumen, or cavity, is left of a 

 diameter of only about one-third of the entire diameter of the cell. 

 It is this deposit which causes the bone-like density of this remark- 

 able vegetable product. The tubules, resulting from the avoid- 

 ance of this deposit at certain points, are frequently curved and 

 branched, and the clusters of these tubules at the ends of the cells 

 are especially branched and tortuous, as they meet the members 

 of similar clusters not only from the cell which lies directly in 

 advance, but also from those which lie surrounding its polygonal 

 periphery. It is not easy to count them, but the tubules of the 

 cluster at one end of one cell undoubtedly often reach the number 

 of twenty or more. 



2. Smilacina racemosa. — This plant, of the lily family, and one 

 of the common woodland herbs of our region, reaches a height 

 of one to three feet, with a slender, simple stem, well furnished 

 with oval leaves, and bears small white flowers in a terminal 

 racemose panicle. The berries are pale red, speckled with pur- 

 ple, containing one or two seeds. 



A section of these seeds discloses a very homogeneous but 

 confused mass of irregularly globular or ellipsoidal cells, about 

 .003 by .005 of an inch in dimensions, with greatly thickened cell 

 walls, abundantly furnished with tubules, which latter are of large 

 diameter compared with their length. The deposit averages not 

 quite one-half of the thickness of that found in the ivory nut, but 

 it is sufficient to make a near approach to the density of "vege- 

 table ivory." The endosperm of this seed of Smilacina is prob- 

 ably the hardest of any recorded instance among the indigenous 

 plants of our region. The seed is so hard that it can be easily 

 driven with one blow of a hammer, and without fracture, flush 

 into the substance of pine wood. 



