LBCT. VII.] ANATOMY OF STEMS. 327 



to consist of the extremities of longitudinal fibres 

 closely united together ; and, in the tangental 

 section, these fibres are seen running in a waving 

 direction and touching each other at certain points 

 only so as to form oblong meshes, which are filled 

 with cellular matter. The nature of this structure 

 will be better understood by referring to the mag- 

 nified marginal plan, in which 

 a. a. a. represent the reticular ar- 

 rangement of the longitudinal fi- 

 bres, and b. b. b. the cellular meshes. 

 This layer is denominated LIBER, 

 a name imposed from its having 

 been employed to write on before 

 the invention of paper. As the network formed 

 by the dividing threads of the meshes is not 

 readily dissolved in water, whilst the cellular 

 matter which fills them up is remarkably soluble, 

 the liber of some plants, for example the Daphne 

 lagetto, when soaked in water and afterwards 

 beaten, forms a very beautiful vegetable gauze ; 

 which may be used as an article of dress. A 

 coarser specimen of this gauze, or lace, is seen 

 in the bark of many of our indigenous trees, par- 

 ticularly the Oak, when it has been long exposed 

 to the weather, after being separated from the 

 trunk. This regular arrangement, however, of 

 the longitudinal texture of the liber, is not found 

 in every instance ; for in the Fir and some other 



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