23 



demonstrated. Take, for iustanco, tlie Anilia splnosa, wliicli is 

 common on our lawns or in other ornnmental plantations, and 

 examine it from the base of its trunk to the extreme branches and 

 tips of its leaves ; and beneath the outer bark or epidermis will be 

 found this network. Thus may a tree be enveloped by an 

 amazingly fine and beautiful web of crystalline cells, as admirably 

 regular as mosaic or tosselated work. In such cases the studs of 

 crystal arc usually stellate sphfcrapliidcs ; but the arrangement of 

 the short prismatic crystals throughout the plant may be scarcely 

 less wonderful. These short prismatic forms are often spread out 

 into a similar tissue, and are oftener observed in chains of cells 

 along the vascular bundles of the leaves, so as to form a fine internal 

 crytalline skeleton in the plant ; as may be well seen in numerous 

 species, of which the common wliite clover and many otlier 

 Legumens are good examples. In fact, tlie whole subject of these 

 plant-crystals might form a profitable addition to old Krasmus 

 Darwin's great work, entitled " Phytologia, or the Philosophy of 

 Agriculture and Gardening," published in 1799, or matter for in- 

 vestigation by the Agricultural College at present flourishing in the 

 West of England. From some experiments made by Mr. Ham- 

 mond, of Milton Chapel, it appears too that several of the crystals 

 polarize light beautifully ; and a wish was expressed tliat he would 

 continue and extend his observations on this novel and interesting 

 point, and communicate them to the scientific meetings of the 

 Society. Indeed, microscopic crystals belong to the vast province 

 of the cell biography of plants, hitherto so much neglected that 

 even its great taxonomic value is slill ignored in the books of 

 botany. Eut it is sufficiently plain in the book of nature, and must 

 be diligently studied there, both systcraatiealiy and physiologically, 

 before we can hope for a discovery of the most complete diagnostic 

 characters and laws of the vegetable kingdom. 



The drawings were admirably illustrated by ilr. Hammond, in a 

 series of slides of the real objects, skilfully prepared for microscopic 

 examination. All the forms of thu crystals were thus shown, much 

 to the pleasure and profit of the meeting, lie gave abundant proofs 

 of the fact, which has been doubted by some botanists, of the occur- 

 rence together of two or more forms of the crystals in the same leaf 

 of one plant, in accordance with Mr. Gulliver's observations. In 

 particular, in the leaf of the mulberry, as discovered in this species 

 by Mr. Hammond, the short prismatic crystals were shown lying in 

 chains along the vascular bundles, wliile spha}raphides were seen 

 at the same time, and in one microscope field, dotted about the 

 blade of the leaf. 



