LKCT. IX.] HYBRRNACULA GEMS. 463 



they are supported on a short footstalk, and are 

 then termed stalked (pedicillatce) . In employing 

 these terms, however, the student must bear in 

 mind, that they refer to the entire gem ; for a 

 writer of great merit, in describing the gem, says, 

 it " is connected with the stem or branch by means 

 " of a short and fleshy pedicle, in which the 

 " scales originate * ;" whereas this is merely the 

 base of the young branch it encloses. The angle, 

 also, which gems form with the stem or branch, 

 varies considerably in different trees ; thus on the 

 Willow they lie almost parallel to it, while on 

 Apple and Pear trees they project so as to form 

 nearly a right angle with it ; but by this the di- 

 rection of the future branch is regulated. 



Let us detach a gem from any tree, for in- 

 stance the Horse Chesnut, which affords the most 

 magnificent specimen of a gem known in this 

 country, and examine its structure. We find that 

 it consists exteriorly of eight pairs of hollow scales, 

 each pair consisting of scales of the same form and 

 magnitude, placed directly opposite to each other, 

 in such a manner as to cover the opposing edges of 

 the pair within them. The inner scales are longer, 

 and more tender and succulent than the outer, 

 which are hard and covered with a viscid resinous 

 exudation, that unites them together, and is found 



* Keith's Syst. of phys. Bot. vol. i. p. 65. 



