.SECT. I. THE EPIDERMIS. 307 



in which the same organization was perceptible, 

 except that in the calyx, corolla, stamens, and 

 pistils, the points of the areas were fewer ; and the 

 net-work was composed of layers that might be 

 separated, the interior layer being thick, opaque, 

 and succulent, and often coloured, as in Endive, 

 Celandine, and Phytolacca ; in which it was re- 

 spectively white, yellow, and red.* 



Mr. Francis Bauer, of Ke\v, who has studied Bauer, 

 the structure of the epidermis with much attention, 

 and illustrated his observations with elegant draw- 

 ings of the portions inspected, seems to be some- 

 what sceptical with regard to the existence of the 

 ducts or vessels of Hedwig, by which the peculiar 

 areas of the net-work have been thought to com- 

 municate with one another. His observations were 

 made chiefly upon the epidermis of Begonia nitida, 

 Crassula umbellata, Orchis mascula, and several 

 species of Dianthus. But the most singular struc- 

 ture he specifies is that which occurs in the cuticle 

 of Doryanthes hastata Correa, a new liliaceous 

 plant from New Holland, and of a species of 

 Hcemanthus, the epidermis of which, being of a 

 thicker texture than ordinary, seems to be com- 

 posed of two or three stories of cells laid one above 

 another, and exhibiting in their aggregate aspect a 

 resemblance to that of an honey-comb. Each 

 of the orbicular receptacles communicates with that 

 immediately beneath it, but no farther communi- 



* Senebier, Phys. Vg. 

 x 2 



