THE VOLATILE PART OF PLANTS. 107 
cer/fera,) and e from mace, (an appendage to the nutmeg, 
or fruit of the Wyristica moschata.) 
Crystalloid aleurone.—It has been already remarked 
that crystallized albuminoids may be obtained from the 
blood of animals. It is equally true that bodies of similar 
character exist in plants, as was first observed by Hartig, 
(Entwickelungsgeschichte des Pflanzenkeims, p. 104.) In 
form they sometimes imitate crystals quite perfectly, Fig. 
21, a; in other cases, 0, they are rounded masses, having 
some crystalline planes or facets. They are soft, yield 
easily to pressure, swell up to double their bulk when 
Fig. 21. 
soaked in weak acids or alkalies, and their angles have 
none of the constancy peculiar to proper crystals. There- 
fore the term crystalloid, i. e. having the likeness of crys- 
tals, is more appropriate than crystallized. 
As Cohn first noticed, (Jour. fiir Prakt. Chem., 80, 
p- 129,) crystalloid aleurone may be observed in the outer 
portions of the potato tuber, in which it invariably pre- 
sents a cubical form. It is best found by examining the 
cells that adhere to the rind of a potato that has been 
boiled. In Fig. 21, @ represents a cell from a boiled pota- 
to, in the centre of which is seen the cube of aleurone. 
It is surrounded by the exfoliated remnants of starch- 
grains. In the same figure, 6 exhibits the contents of 
a cell from the seed of the bur reed, (Sparganium ramo- 
sum,) a plant that is common along the borders of ponds. 
In the center is a comparatively large mass of aleurone, 
having crystalloid facets. 
