NARCISSUS. 



543 



The lamella are not so distinct nor so coarse and do 

 not always follow so closely the form of the outline of 



the grain. 



In size those of N. poeticus onialus are slightly 

 smaller than those of N. telamonius plenus. 

 Polariscohc Properties. 



The figure is usually distinct and moderately well 

 defined. The lines intersect at a right angle or an acute 

 angle, are rarely bent, and never observed to be bisected. 

 There are sometimes 5 or G lines instead of 4. Occasion- 

 ally the figure is not a cross, but has the form of a 

 conjugate hyperbola. 



The degree of polarization varies from low to very 

 high (value 45), most of the grains being moderate and 

 very few high or very high. There is rarely a variation 

 in a given aspect of a single grain. 



With selenit.e the quadrants are usually clear-cut, and 

 are unequal in size but regular in shape. The colors are 

 usually not pure and few show a greenish tinge. 



Comparison of the polariscopic properties between 

 N. poeticus ornaius and N. telamonius plenus shows: 



The figure is not so distinct nor so well defined. 

 The lines usually cross at an acute angle and are more 

 often bent, and sometimes are bisected. The figure is 

 more often a conjugate hyperbola or a long line bisected 



at both ends. , 



The degree of polarization is higher than m JS. tela- 

 monius plenus (value 50), as there are proportionately 

 more grains with a high to a very high degree of polariza- 

 tion. There is more often a variation in the degree ot 

 polarization of the different parts of a given aspect of 

 the same grain. 



With selenite the quadrants are not so well denned 

 and are more irregular in form. The colors are more 

 often pure and there are more grains which show a 



greenish tinge. 



Iodine Reactions. 



With 0.25 per cent Lugol's solution the grains all 

 color at once a moderate violet tinged with blue (value 

 45), and the color deepens with moderate rapidity until 

 it is very deep, the bluish tinge increasing as the color 

 deepens. With 0.125 per cent Lugol's solution the 

 grains all color a light violet, which deepens with moder- 

 ate rapidity, becoming bluish in tint, until they are 

 deeply colored. After heating in water until all the 

 grains are gelatinized and then adding a 2 per cent 

 Lugol's solution, the gelatinized grains all color a moder- 

 ate indigo-blue and the solution a deep indigo. If the 

 preparation is boiled for 2 minutes and then treated 

 with an excess of a 2 per cent Lugol's solution most of 

 the grain-residues color a light indigo, but in some only 

 the capsule is colored— the capsule a reddish violet and 

 the solution a very deep indigo-blue. 



Comparison of the iodine reactions between N. poeti- 

 cus ornaius and N. telamonius plenus shows: 



With 0.25 and 0.125 per cent Lugol's solution the 

 grains color less than in N. telamonius plenus. After 

 heating in water and boiling the gelatinized grains, the 

 grain-residues are more deeply colored and the solution 

 less deeply colored than in N. telamonius plenus. 

 Aniline Reactions. 



With gentian violet the grains all color very lightly 

 at once, and in 30 minutes they are light to moderately 



colored (value 40). The grains are all colored to the 

 same depth and there is no variation of dilferent parts 

 of the individual gram. 



With safranin the grains all color very lightly at once, 

 and in 30 minutes they are moderately colored (value 

 50), more than with gentian violet. The grams are all 

 colored to the same depth, and there is no variation of 

 different parts of the individual grains. 



Comparison of the aniline reactions between N. poeti- 

 cus ornatus and N. telamonius plenus shows : 



With gentian violet the grains are colored much less 

 (value 30) and with safranin they are colored less but not 

 so much less as with gentian violet (value 45). 



Temperature Reactions. 



The temperature of gelatinization of the majority 

 of the grains is 70° to 72° C, and of all is 73° to 75° C, 

 mean 74° C. 



Comparison of the temperature reactions between N. 

 poeticus ornatus and N. telamonius plenus shows : 



The temperature of gelatinization of N. poeticus 

 ornatus is higher— 77° to 78° C, mean 77.5° C. 



Effects of Various Reagents. 

 The reaction with chloral hydrate begins in 1 minute. 

 Complete gelatinization occurs in about 1 per cent of the 

 entire number of grains and 2 per cent of the total starch 

 in 5 minutes; in about 9 per cent of the grains and 11 

 per cent of the total starch in 15 minutes; in about 

 18 per cent of the grains and 20 per cent of the total 

 starch in 30 minutes ; in about 20 per cent of the grains 

 and 22 per cent of the total starch in 45 minutes; in 

 about 22 per cent of the grains and 24 per cent of the 

 total starch in 60 minutes. (Chart D 293.) 



The hilum is moderately distinct in the small number 

 of grains in which a bubble is not formed. In a large 

 majority a small bubble, and in a few rare grains a large 

 bubble, is soon formed at the hilum, and remain there 

 unchanged until the reaction is nearly at an end. The 

 lamellae are visible in a moderate number of grains, but 

 are not very distinct. The grains become somewhat 

 more refractive after the addition of the reagent, and the 

 first part of the grain to show this change is a rather 

 broad band of material at the margin. Celatinization 

 begins at the distal margin and progresses in two differ- 

 ent ways. In the less resistant grains various discrete 

 points on the margin are affected first, and from these 

 points gelatinization spreads first along the whole distal 

 margin and then towards the hilum. It is preceded 

 by some longitudinal Assuring of the grain, but no separa- 

 tion of particles. When the hilum is reached the bubble 

 first swells, then shrinks, and finally disappears, and the 

 hilum swells rapidly, the material at the proximal end 

 being the last part of the grain to be gelatinized. In the 

 more resistant elongated grains the whole distal margin 

 is affected first and gelatinization then progresses towards 

 the proximal end; when it has reached a point about half 

 the distance between the hilum and the distal end the 

 proximal end is gelatinized and the hilum swells, the 

 bubble swelling first, then shrinking, and finally disap- 

 pearing. The portion just distal to the hilum is then split 

 into two pieces by a longitudinal fissure, and these two 

 pieces gelatinize separately. In lenticular -shaped grains 

 the process is very similar, except that gelatinzation 

 begins at the margin at either end of the long axis of the 



