18 



sap ascends from the stock through the wood of the scion into 

 the eye, which may be proved by experiments. 



M. Mirbel* has laid before the French Academy a highly 

 interesting treatise on cambium and the mode of formation 

 of cells and vessels in vegetables. The earlier statement,, that 

 cambium is a cellular mucilaginous mass of extreme delicacy, 

 is therein confirmed, and M. Mirbel is of opinion that his doc- 

 trine of the origin of vessels (probably spiral vessels are in- 

 tended),which originate from cells whose diagonal septa are de- 

 stroyed, is generally adopted, which, however, is not at all the 

 case. I shall not go further into the contents of this commu- 

 nication at present, as M. Mirbel will probably very soon pub- 

 lish this work in a more complete form ; it contains very beau- 

 tiful drawings of the formation of the new ligneous cells from 

 the cambium, and the thickening of their sides by the forma- 

 tion of new layers from the latter. 



M. Girou de Buzareinguesf has on the other hand produced 

 a memoir on the structure and growth of the new woody layers 

 of dicotyledons, which it is true is full of new observations and 

 views, but will hardly gain much credit. I at least cannot 

 concur with him in one single point. In last year's report J I 

 had occasion to notice a paper of M. Girou's, in which the 

 most erroneous observations and false views on well-investi- 

 gated subjects of vegetable physiology were contained ; it is 

 much the same with the present memoir. M. Girou writes 

 and works constantly without any regard to the labours of his 

 predecessors, and this neglect of the observations of others is 

 the cause that the results of his own are as if vegetable phy- 

 siology had first been studied last year. 



M. Dutrochet has laid before the French Academy of Sci- 

 ences some observations on the nature and development of 

 cork, without being acquainted with the observations of M. 

 Mohl, which were noticed at p. 58 || of last year's report. M. 



* Observations sur le cambium et sur quelques modes de formations utri- 

 culaires ou vasculairea dans les vegetaux. Compte Rendu, 1837, p. 295. 

 L'Institut, 1837, p. 311. 



f Mem. sur 1'accroissement en grosseur des exogenes. Ann. des Scienc. 

 d'Hist. Nat. 1837, Mars, p. 129 166, avec 3 planches, 



J Lond. and Edin. Philosophical Magazine, vol. xi. p. 526. 



L'Institut de 1837, p. 10. 



|| Page 53, &c. of the translation in Lond. and Edinb. Phil. Mag. for 

 January 1838. TRANSL. 



