20 



THE MICROSCOPE. 



tive, and elementary forms of vegetation. Vegetable 

 cells are of various shapes and sizes ; they may be 

 globular (Fig. i), or square, hexagonal (Fig. 2), cy- 

 drical (Fig. 3), spindle-shaped, 

 &c. &c. Sometimes the cell- 

 walls grow unequally at different 

 points, so as to produce angular 

 projections by which the cells 

 cohere ; or they grow out into 

 long arms, thus producing stel- 

 late cells, as in the pith of the 

 rush, a thin section of which, 

 when viewed by reflected light, 

 is a very pretty microscopic object. Thin sections of 

 any soft vegetable tissues are readily made with a 

 razor or very sharp knife. Starch is found abun- 



Fig. i. Globular Cells. 



Fig. 2. Hexagonal Cells. 



Fig. 3. Cylindrical Cells. 



dantly in the cells of a great many vegetables. The 

 granules vary much in form and size, and are gene- 

 rally so characteristic of the plants, that it is an easy 

 matter to detect, by means of the -microscope, adul- 

 terations in food. Fig. 4 represents a thin section of 

 a potato, showing the cells and starch-granules con- 



