1888.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 173 



A decayed nut. 



By V. A. LATHAM, 



ANN ARBOR, MICH. 



A short time since, while eating Brazil nuts, I found one which, though it 

 afforded no stimulus to the appetite, at least furnished food for the mind. 

 It was a decayed nut, the kernel being completely decomposed. In place of 

 the solid, oily kernel only a few particles of oily and sugary matter were 

 found. This led to reflection, and the determination succeeded to submit it 

 to the microscope. Thinking that it would be desirable, first, to know the 

 component parts of a healthy nut, I procured a portion of the brown, scaly 

 covering with which the nut is invested. This was, as anticipated, an epi- 

 dermis of simple membrane covering the albuminous matter which composed 

 the kernel. When placed in a drop of water and viewed with a power of 50 

 diameters it was seen to be distinctly cellular in appearance, the cell markings 

 closely assimilating those of the flattened outer epidermal cells of the human 

 skin. Hence I concluded it was made up of flattened cells. Viewed with 

 oblique light its markings were distinctly seen. I next made a very thin sec- 

 tion of the kernel and found it to be cellular in structure, exhibiting well-de- 

 fined cell-walls composed of a tough, rather opaque substance, in shape some- 

 what oval. Here and there in the field of view were globules of oil, with 

 their well-defined rings pi'oduced by the unequal refraction of the light. 



Several sections were made — horizontal, vertical, and oblique. — with the 

 same result, each showing cells with thick walls, and in a few cells a central 

 nucleus. Viewed w^ith oblique light the membi-anous coating of the cell w^as 

 beautifully seen. When compressed between the compressorium or 2 plates 

 of glass a rupture of the cell-wall was effected, and a drop of water or glycer- 

 ine (glycerine answers best and permits greater refractive power) being 

 placed on the slide the contents of the cell were floated out and appeared to 

 be granules variously shaped. I neglected to test for starch, but doubtless 

 from the analogy of the nut it would be found to be composed principally of 

 that substance. 



Having examined the healthy nut thus far, I then proceeded with the curi- 

 ous specimen. The diseased nut was affected with a malady which had con- 

 sumed it, and it was no longer a very agreeable subject to investigate ; but 

 the student of natural history must not sicken at an unpleasant smell nor 

 shrink from a disagreeable sight — such will sometimes afford the best means 

 of instruction. The appearance of the shell was as if it had been soaked in 

 oil, doubtless owing to the oily matter from the cells of the nut being set at 

 liberty. Decomposition had produced heat, thus rendering the oil more liq- 

 '•'d and enabling it to permeate the walls of the shell. The kernel was en- 

 • ,ely decayed, no trace of cell being visible, nothing remaining but a soft, 

 ,, •^, and sugary mass of a dirty yellow color; the epidermis being thinner 

 in a healthy specimen, but exhibiting the same markings. My first 



, vas to remove a small portion of the dirty yellow matter. This placed 



1 the microscope with a power of 300 diameters there stood revealed a 



1 1 .'ition of thread fibres, beautiful in their confusion. They were inter- 



every direction, a mere mass of fungi, the production, probably, from 



.. 1 "ant spore released from its parent stem. There it had hitherto nes- 



' °r the tropical sun of Brazil, until, arriving at a period when it be- 



came nece ^ ^ ., i, • i. -^ r^ ^ j -^ n-r 



1 , ssarv to procure its own subsistence, it started on its voyage 01 life 



and wande. ,-^ , • .lu i ^.-i •*. r j i.- i -ii • ^.i • 



, .. '-ed along in the breeze until it lound a resting place within this 



^ , , P 'ut. Here it grew with its growth and fattened upon its decay. 



• 1 , )f cell was visible ; nothing but the threads ramifying in every 

 conceivable a . ,. ' & j is j 



irection. 



