464 CONSERVATIVE ORGANS. [tECT. IX. 



on the inner scales also; but of a thinner and 

 more transparent quality. On removing all the 

 scales, the rudiments of the young branch and the 

 leaves are discovered, embedded in a soft hairy or 

 woody substance. If this examination be made, 

 by dividing a terminal gem longitudinally, in the 

 very early part of spring, before the buds begin to 

 swell, we find (see Jc. fig. 15, Plate 5) the rudi- 

 ment of the new branch apparently quite distinct 

 from the old ; separated by a partition which, as 

 the season advances and the scales begin to open, 

 is gradually obliterated, while at the same time 

 the quantity of woolly matter surrounding the 

 leaves is greatly increased, and these acquire their 

 determinate forms, folded up, however, so as to 

 occupy the smallest possible space. But although 

 the examination of any gem will afford a general 

 idea of the structure of all, yet, gems differ very 

 considerably in the number and characters of the 

 enclosing scales, their contents, the folding up of 

 the leaves within them, and the manner in which 

 these are evolved in the spring. 



a. The scales which constitute, in fact, the hy- 

 bernaculum, differ, as has been already stated, in 

 size and texture even in the same gem ; in the 

 gems of different plants they differ also in num- 

 ber and in the nature of their coverings. Some 

 gems, indeed, are entirely destitute of scales, for 

 example, those of annual plants, and of many 



