26 



THE AMERICAN MONTHLY 



[f'ebruary, 



a lining membrane to these blocks, 

 for in a piece treated in acid and 

 picked apart with needles, not only 

 the outer membrane, fig. 12, c, the 

 inner membrane, fig. 12, d^ and the 

 separate blocks (/) of the shell are 

 seen, but also a smaller-celled mem- 

 brane, whose meshes correspond in 

 size and shape to the blocks of the 

 shell substance, fig. 12, c. In fig. 13 

 are shown the different appearances 

 of the seed-shell under various treat- 

 ments, and also in section. 



In the preparation of ground mus- 

 tard, repeated sifting is resorted to 

 to remove the fragments of the seed- 

 shell, called " husks," but minute 

 fragments will be found in all samples 

 if they contain mustard at all. 



The cotyledon of the mustard seed 

 is composed of elongated cells ar- 

 ranged in pretty regular rows length- 

 wise of the seed, (fig. 4). In most parts 

 these rows are very regular and the 

 cells of even size, (fig. 5). The cells 

 of the radicle are long and slender, 

 fig. (6, />). By chopping up with a knife 

 the cotyledon of a soaked seed and 

 crushing down the fragments in water, 

 the separated cells will be seen, (fig. 

 6). As seen in the mustard flour, the 

 fragments of ground mustard will pre- 

 sent small irregular lumps of cells, of 

 various sizes and shapes, opaque in 

 the thicker parts, and with the cells 

 filled with a minute granular sub- 

 stance, (fig. 7). Some scales and 

 cells of the outer membrane of the 

 shell, Tfig. 11), are seen, some separate 

 cells of the mustard seed, (fig. 6,) and 

 a very few minute fragments of the 

 shell. 



The mustard seed is, by some, said 

 to contain no starch at all ; by others 

 to contain " little or none," and by 

 others to contain " very little," " but a 

 trace," etc. I have not been able to 

 satisfy myself of the presence of 

 starch in the mustard seed, but the 

 cells of the cotyledon are filled with 

 minute granular matter, (figs. 4, 5,6,7,) 

 which almost entirely dissolves in 

 potash with heat, leaving the cells 

 empty with their cell-walls thickened. 



(fig. 8,) and in the water in which a 

 dry seed is crushed, can be seen nu- 

 merous minute drops of oil, similar to 

 what was figured in the article on 

 Capsicum, and many very minute 

 granules, (fig. g,) which are solid and 

 clear, and float in the water ; they 

 dissolve in potash but do not polarize, 

 nor do they seem to stain by dilute 

 iodine, and they do not swell appreci- 

 ably on being heated in water. I 

 could discover no trace of a hilum, 

 but am inclined to believe from 

 analogy that these minute granules 

 are, in fact, starch. 



In examining samples of ground 

 mustard to detect adulteration, first 

 drop a little into alcohol and see if it 

 instantly gives the yellow color indi- 

 cative of turmeric ; if so, place a little 

 in water under the microscope and 

 determine as nearly as possible the 

 percentage of turmeric present, also 

 note the proportion of wheat-flour, and 

 whether anv other starchy matter is 

 present. The addition of dilute 

 iodine will mark the starches, leaving 

 the fragments of mustard uncolored, 

 and thus facilitate the determination ; 

 finally add strong potash solution and 

 note what proportion is left after all 

 the starch is dissolved. A fresh sam- 

 ple should also be examined in tur- 

 pentine, and another should be treated 

 with nitric acid, by which means any 

 fragments of other seeds than mus- 

 tard will be detected, and lastly, still 

 another sample should be treated with 

 potash and heat, and examined for 

 fragments of seed-husks other than 

 mustard husks. Acid after potash 

 will often soften woody fragments 

 that resisted the potash, and enable 

 their structure to be detected. 



Some Miiiiite Plants. 



A small, homoeopathic vail which 

 was handed to us recently by Mr. A. 

 D. Balen for the examination of cer- 

 tain specimens, after standing for sev- 



