A GRAIN OF BARLEY. 89 
wish to call your attention to two curious little transparent 
scales, which spring from the point of attachment of the inner 
palea to the floral axis, and wrap closely round the front of 
the germ like two little folding hands. These are the so- 
called /odicules, one of which is shown, very much enlarged, , 
in Plate I., Fig. 4. Some observers have imagined that these 
little scales, in conjunction with the basal-bristle which lies 
in the ventral furrow of the outer coating, have an impor- 
tant function in absorbing and conducting water to the germ, 
and of hastening its growth when the grain is placed under 
favourable conditions for germination. Direct experiment has, 
however, failed to support this somewhat attractive idea, and the 
comparative study of the flowers of other members of the great 
natural order of Grasses to which Barley belongs, clearly indicates 
that these scale-like lodicules correspond to the calyx and corolla 
of other flowering plants ; they may, in fact, be looked upon as a 
perianth, or more strictly a perigonium. They are found fully 
developed in the flower of the barley before the fertilization of 
the pistil, and only persist in the ripe grain as these minute 
dried-up scales, which are without any further function in the 
economy of the plant. 
When we have carefully stripped off the whole of the outer 
coating of the barley grain, consisting of the two adherent and 
folding palez, we find the grain still covered with a very thin 
skin, which, when looked at with a good pocket lens, appears 
finely striated in the direction of the length of the grain. 
This apparent striation is due to the outermost cell layers 
being arranged longitudinally. 
If we cut the grain across in various places we see that 
the barley-corn, with the exception of the small germ which is 
situated at the base of the grain on the dorsal side, is, for the 
most part, filled with a white mealy-looking substance, the 
endosperm or albumen. The germ, or embryo, which is in 
reality the baby plantlet, occupies only about 4 of the 
total volume of the corn, but it is this portion alone which is 
endowed with any vitality. The whole future potentiality of 
