12 



DESCRIPTIVE BOTANV. 



plant, we find it to be made up of solid and fluid parts, 

 and with the aid of the microscope we may observe the 

 manner in which these parts are disposed. The solid 

 portions appear somewhat like a spongeous body, pene- 

 trated by minute cavities, through which the fluids are 

 dispersed. If we now take a very thin transrerse slice 

 of some succulent stem, as of a cucumber (Jig, 1.), and 



examine a portion of it under lenses of high powers, it 

 will present the form of a distinct network, the meshes 

 of which consist of angular figures, differing in the 

 number of their sides, and in the degrees of regularity 

 with which they are disposed. In some cases the regu- 

 larity of their form and disposition is very remarkable ; 

 and they are frequently hexagonal. The meshes in 

 some parts of the slice are much smaller than in others, 

 especially where they are observed to surround certain 

 circular openings of a different appearance from the rest 

 of the cavities. If another slice be taken toafitvdlnatty 

 through the stem (fig. 2.), and a portion of this be 



2 

 fl 



examined in a similar manner, the netlike tissue pre- 

 sents a somewhat different appearance. The meshes 

 are for the most part quadrilateral, or nearly so, and ge- 

 nerally elongated in the direction of the axis of the stem. 

 The circular openings observed in the former fig. (1.) 



