74 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



flax, the fibres of the bark comprise the useful parts 

 of this plant. 



The stalk is channelled, and hollow in the inside, 

 containing a white, soft, medullary substance, en- 

 closed in a very tender tube, chiefly composed of 

 a cellular texture, and of some longitudinal fibres, 

 commonly called the reed, or, technically, the 6ocw, 

 of the hemp. It is covered with a green bark, rough 

 and hairy, which is formed of numerous fibres extend- 

 ing the whole length of the stem. These are not 

 reticulated, but are placed parallel to each other, and 

 united by means of the cellular texture. 



A microscopic view of these fibres discloses that each 

 single fibre is in itself a bundle of fibrils, or fibres of 

 extreme fineness ; these are twisted spirally, and after 

 maceration may be stretched out to a considerable 

 length. The leaves grow on opposite foot-stalks by 

 pairs, and are at their base always accompanied -by 

 two stipules, or leaflets, a very common characteristic 

 of many species of plants. The leaves are divided, 

 as far as the foot-stalks, into four, five, or a greater 

 number of narrow segments, pointed and deeply in- 

 dented in the margin. They are of a darker green 

 colour on the upper than the under side, rough and 

 furrowed above, and ridged beneath. The flowers 

 and fruit grow upon separate plants. Those bearing 

 the flowers are called male hemp, those bearing the 

 fruit or seed, the female. In general the male hemp 

 is more slender and delicate than the female ; the 

 fibres of its bark are also finer and more elastic; the 

 stem, which is single, divides itself at the extremity 

 into several branches, terminating in thin pointed 



before. The soil "terra vergine," as the Italians called it, was 

 very deep, black, and unctuous. ^It was still very moist, and 

 besides a small river and a lake (Di Patria) of some exient, there 

 was an immense deal of marshy ground and stagnant water in the 

 immediate neighbourhood. '-H 



