88 A GRAIN OF BARLEY. 
these vascular bundles cause the dorsal side to appear bounded 
by four almost straight lines. (See Plate I., Fig. 3). 
In order to see more than this we must strip off the outer 
coating of the grain, which can readily be done if it has been 
previously soaked in water for a day or two. We then find 
that this outer skin consists of two leaf-like tissues, one of 
which is closely adherent to the dorsal side, and the other to the 
ventral, the former slightly overlapping the latter. Properly 
speaking these do not belong to the grain at all, but are the 
remnants of the flowering glumes or palee, the protecting en- 
velopes of the flower, which have become permanently attached 
to the grain during its growth. In most cereals, as in wheat 
and rye, these palez, are not permanently attached to the 
grain, but readily separate from it on ripening, in the form of 
‘‘chaff.” In some varieties of barley, the so-called skinless 
barleys, this is also the case, but in most barley the “ chaff” 
is permanently adherent to the grain. 
The outermost and largest of the two palee in _ barley 
(Palea inferior) (Plate I., Fig. 2, .2.) is the one which wraps 
round the ‘‘back” of the grain, and its upward prolongation 
forms the deard or awn with which most varieties are furnished. 
(Plate I., Figs. r and 2, aw.) The innermost of the two 
flowering glumes, the one which adheres to the ventral side 
of the barley corn, is the palea superior. (Plate I., Fig. 2, ps) 
If we remove the palea from the dorsal side, we can 
readily discern at the base of the grain, through the inner 
transparent skin, a small bud-like organ of a light yellow 
colour and wax-like appearance. This is the germ or embryo, 
which under favourable conditions will develop into the young 
barley plant. When this is dissected out with the sharp point 
of a knife and examined with a pocket lens, we can clearly 
distinguish the different portions of the germ from which, in 
the course of time, will proceed the stem and roots of the 
young plant. 
Whilst the imner palea, which envelops the furrowed or 
ventral side of the grain, is still supposed to be attached, I 
