408 Prof. G. Gulliver on Rajj/iides and other Crystals. 



raphides as natural characters, another of those interesting 

 questions which can only be settled by further observations. 



Musacece. — Bit of midrib and blade of leaf of Musa textilis, 

 from Mr. Baxter : raphides scanty ; but abundance of minute 

 crystals, like those of Citrus ('Annals/ April last, p. 294), be- 

 sides some hexagonal forms. Heliconia aurantiaca (leaf from 

 Mr. Moore) : petiole and blade with swarms of raphis-cells. 



Iridacece and Liliacece. — Such fine examples of crystal prisms, 

 about -aVth of an inch long and xr^nd thick, are afforded by 

 the officinal Orris-root {Iris Florentina), and of raphides, about 

 V^th of an inch long and , g'op th thick, by the officinal Squill, 

 that the difference between these crystals may be examined at 

 any time. There are also in the Squill numerous, smaller ra- 

 phides ; and in the fresh bulb the raphides may be seen es- 

 caping from the rounded ends of the soft, ropy and mucus-like 

 cells. I have before noticed the raphides in the leaves of Ruscus. 

 Though always rather scanty, they are constant; and many 

 bundles of them occur regularly in the perianth. The remark- 

 able scarcity of raphides in our native shrubs and trees gives an 

 interest to this httle British shrub as a raphis-bearer. Raphides 

 abound in the twigs and leaves of R. Hypoglossum from Mr. 

 Sowerby. 



Burmanniacea and Hamodoracea. — Dried leaves, from Mr. 

 Baxter, of Burmannia, sp., and Anigozanthiis, sp. : raphides not 

 found in the first, but abundantly in the last, and often in 

 bundles. 



Amaryllidacea. — A good example of the constancy of the raphis- 

 bearing character is afforded by Narcissus pseudo' Narcissus, as 

 I have found after many examinations, during different months 

 and years, of wild plants in Derbyshire, Middlesex, Essex, Kent, 

 Ireland and Scotland. Though the raphides are so abundant 

 in its leaves, scape, and ovary-coat, they are not remarkable in 

 the ovules. It is curious to observe the difference between the 

 bulb-scales either of this plant or Endymion nutans and of some 

 Alliese and Colchicacese : bundles of raphides in the first two, 

 short prisms in the third, and no crystals in the last. 



Hypoxidacece. — Bundles of raphides numerous in a dried leaf 

 of Hypoxis, sp., from Mr. Baxter. 



Bromeliaceee. — Leaf of Bonapartea juncea : a profusion of 

 bundles of raphides, and of single, larger, four-sided prisms, 

 flattened at the ends like a mason's chisel. Leaves, from Mr. 

 Baxter, of Ananassa sativa, jEchmea discolor, Dyckia rariflora, 

 Tillandsia acaulis, T. zebrina, and T. sp. : all abounding in 

 raphides, which are also numerous in the stamens and perianth 

 of an immature flower of this last species. 



Pontederiacea. — Bit of dry leaf-stalk of Pontederia azurea 



