GENUS BRODIiEA. 597 



With selenite the quadrants are fairly well defined, often irregular in shape, and unequal in 

 size. In most cases the colors are pure and bright. 



Iodine Reactions. — With 0.25 per cent Lugol's solution the grains are colored a deep blue- 

 violet and the color is deeper than that of B. peduncularis; with 0.125 per cent solution the grains 

 color fairly and the color grows deeper rapidly, slightly deeper than that of the grains of B. pedun- 

 cidaris. After heating until the grains are completely gelatinized, the solution is colored very faintly 

 and the grains very deeply on the addition of iodine. After boiling for 2 minutes the solution is 

 colored much more deeply, but the grain-residues much less. On the addition of a slight excess of 

 iodine the capsules are colored a reddish-violet. Most of the capsules contain some blue-reacting 

 starch in the proximal end. 



Staining Reactions. — -With gentian violet the grains begin to stain immediately, but very lightly. 

 After 30 minutes most of the grains are fairly deeply stained, some more than others. The color 

 is deeper than that of the grains of B. peduncularis. 



With safranin the grains stain at once very lightly, but after 30 minutes they are fairly deeply 

 stained, much more markedly than the majority of the grains of B. peduncularis. 



Temperature Reaction. — The temperature of gelatinization is 69° to 71° C, mean 70°, 



Effects of Various Reagents.— With chloral hydrate-iodine there is a slight reaction in some grains 

 in a minute. About two-thirds are affected and some of them darkened throughout in 5 minutes. 

 All are affected and three-fourths fully gelatinized in 15 minutes; all but 2 or 3 are fully gelatinized 

 in 13^ hours. There is no further change. The reaction is practically identical with that of the 

 grains of B. peduncularis. 



Reaction with chromic acid begins immediately in some grains, is general in 13^ minutes, and 

 over in 6 minutes. The reaction is practically identical with that of the grains of B. peduncularis. 



With pyrogallic acid there is a slight reaction in a few grains in 30 seconds and most grains 

 show some reaction in 5 minutes. Reaction is general in 10 minutes and has reached its limit in 25 

 minutes, but is incomplete in an hour. At this time the grains are in all stages from the begin- 

 ning of swelling to a point nearly approaching or of complete gelatinization. The process is 

 identical with that of the grains of B. peduncularis. 



Some reaction with ferric chloride is seen in a few grains in IJ^ minutes. About half are affected 

 and some fully gelatinized in 5 minutes. About two-thirds are affected in 10 minutes, and almost 

 all are completely gelatinized in 15 minutes. The reaction is over in all the grains in 25 minutes. 

 The process is the same as that of the starch grains of B. peduncularis. 



There is some reaction with Purdy's solution in a few grains in IJ^ minutes, half are affected 

 in 30 minutes and three-fourths in 50 minutes. None of the grains is entirely gelatinized, and many 

 show merely an enlarged hilum and fine strise radiating from it. There is no further change after 

 an hour. 



STARCH OF BRODIiEA GRANDIFLORA. (Plate 47, figs. 277 and 278. Chart 177.) 



Histological Characteristics. — In farm the grains are simple, with the exception if a few com- 

 pounds consisting of two or three components. There were no aggregates of the smaller grains 

 and but little tendency to form clumps. Large grains with a mass of smaller ones adherent to the 

 base or sides are rarely seen. The surface of the grains is sometimes irregular, owing to spicular, 

 nipple-like, and large projections. The conspicuous forms are oval, ovoid, and ellipsoidal; also 

 long and elliptical, small round, triangular with flattened base and rounded apex, pyriform, a num- 

 ber of quadrangular grains, and various irregular forms. The grains are usually round when viewed 

 on end. 



When the hilum is not fissured, it appears as a fairly distinct, small, round spot, eccentric about 

 one-third of the longitudinal axis of the grain and usually in or near the median line. There may 

 be rarely 2 or even 3 hila, which are generally placed very close together, usually in a homogeneous, 

 non-lamellated space, but in some cases each seems to have a few lamellae. The hilum usually is 

 fissured, but the fissures are not so common, so deep, or so wide as those in the grains of B. pedun- 

 cularis. Generally the fissure is small, straight or double-curved, and transverse or diagonal; not 

 uncommonly it has three lines, or is in the form of a cross; it may be clear-cut or ragged. Rarely 

 the hilum is marked by an irregular, stellate fissure; in some grains it may not be fissured, but fis- 

 sures may lie underneath it, or a fissure may extend through the hilum and the portion of the grain 

 beneath. 



