606 CONSERVATIVE ORGANS. [LECT. XI. 



Whatever may be the figures which they pre- 

 sent in the cutis covering the spaces between 

 the vascular ramifications of the leaf, they in- 

 variably appear as irregular parallelograms (<i6. 

 a. a.) * in that which covers the vascular fas- 

 ciculi; a fact which gives some support to the 

 opinion of M. Kieser, that the vessels forming the 

 meshes terminate in these fasciculi. The differ- 

 ence in the size of the meshes, in different leaves, is 

 still more striking than in their forms; but in all 

 they are very minute. On a portion of the cutis 

 of Aloe verrucosa, -^fa of a square inch in size, I 

 counted ninety-six meshes, or 55,296 to the square 

 inch ! 



The form of the cuticular cells (41. 4 2. c. page 

 602), owing to the cutis being more transparent 



of the cutis taken from the upper disk of a leaf of that plant ; 

 and fig. 10, a portion from the under disk. 



* This represents a very minute portion of cutis taken from 

 the under disk of a leaf of Gardenia latifolia, magnified 300 

 times, and viewed by transmitted light. 



