TENDKILS IN SOME CUCURBITACEAE. 255 



sections were prepared through the nodes to study the course of the 

 vascular bundles. In other pieces of stem were macerated in a 

 suitable medium. In some cases both methods were tried. 



A few words may be said about maceration. Several chemical 

 reagents were tried, but none was found satisfactory. Even boiling 

 in tap water was found too drastic. Ultimately the pieces of stems 

 with their attached organs were left in ordinary tap-water for a num- 

 ber of days — about five in summer and about ten in winter — and 

 then the vascular skeleton was prepared by teasing out the softer 

 tissues. 



The following species were studied. The methods adopted are 

 also indicated. 



1. Benincasa cerifera Savi. Maceration. 



2. Lagenaria vulgaris Scringe. Maceration. 



3. Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. Free-hand sections. 



4. Trichosaothes anguina Linn. Serial sectioning. 



5. Trichosanthes dioica Boxb. Maceration. 



6. Luf fa acutangula Boxb. Serial sectioning and maceration. 



7. Luffa pentandra Boxb. Maceration. 



8. Cucumis melo Linn. Serial sectioning and maceration. 



9. Cucumis momordica Boxb. Free-hand sections. 



10. Momordica echinata Linn. Serial sectioning and mace- 



ration. 



11. Momordica charantia Linn. Serial sectioning. 



12. Cucurbita maxima Duchesne. Maceration. 



Of these species Tondera has figured the vascular connections of 

 1, 2 and 8 ; while Muller has figured the tendril-anatomy of No. 4. 



After this preliminary account we may pass on to the details in 

 the species investigated. 



Benincasa cerifera. 



In the axil x of the leaf we find a row of four different organs. 

 From the left, we have a two-armed tendril, a vegetative bud which 

 sometimes developes into a shoot, a flower and lastly a glandular 

 structure standing erect and with margins rolled inwards, resembling 

 a rudimentary leaf. (Fig. 1.) 



The stem is five-angled as usual in the family. In mature 

 specimens the inner and the outer rings of vascular bundles are very 

 near each other and very nearly merge into one ring. (Fig. 2) 



1 None of these structures is really axillary. In the Cucurbitaceae most 

 of the structures occurring at this place are extra-axillary. The word is used 

 merely for the sake of convenience throughont the paper. 



