Prof. G. Gulliver on Raphides and other Crystals. 251 



cies, bundles of these minute raphides swarmed in the seed- 

 leaves, plumule, and caulicle of M. tricolor. 



Tetragoniece and Sesuviea. — Having, thus far, always found 

 a profusion of raphides in the section Mesembryeae, the question 

 arises whether this character also be possessed by the other two 

 sections of the order Ficoideae. Accordingly specimens, either 

 fresh or dried, were examined of the leaves and stalks of four 

 species of Tetragonia, three of Aizuon, and three of Sesuvium ; 

 and the result was a negative answer to the question. No ra- 

 phides were found in any of these ten plants, though in several 

 of them sphaeraphides were observed in more or less abundance 

 — a character in which Tetragonieae and Sesuvieae resemble Che- 

 nopodiaceac. In the leaves, calyx, and ovary of Tetragonia ex* 

 pansa the sphaeraphides are about -R-vroth of an inch in diameter, 

 and commonly double that size in the pith. 



Plant aginacea, Nyctagitiacea, and Amaranthacea. — These or- 

 ders are numbered 143, 14rl?, and 145 in Prof. Balfour's 'Manual 

 of Botany.* I have only examined three species belonging to 

 the central order, and they all abound in raphides, which were 

 seen in the flower and swarming in the leaves and stem of Oary- 

 bapkus violaceus, and in the stem, bracts, and different parts of 

 the flower of Bougainvillaa glabra. And I have never failed 

 to And raphides equally abundant in the root-stock, leaves, 

 calyx, and corolla, and also, but smaller and more tender, in 

 the stamens, pistil, ovary, ovule, spcrmoderm, and seed-leaves of 

 Mirabilis. On the contrary, in the few species examined be- 

 longing to* the neighbouring orders, Plantaginacese and Ama- 

 ranthaceae, no raphides were found. 



Chenopodiacea, Phytolnccacea, and Polygonacea. — Here again 

 arises the question, how far an order may be distinguished by 

 raphides from its allies. Does this small central order differ 

 as a raphis-bearer from the two larger neighbouring orders ? 

 Of Phytolaccaceae I have only examined the leaves, red petioles, 

 and midribs of Phytolacca icosandra, and the leaves, young 

 flowers and buds, spike and bracts of P. esculenta, var, venosa, 

 in all of which raphides occur profusely. But this character 

 was found entirely wanting in every one of the few species or 

 varieties of Chenopodium, Atriplex, Beta, Rheumy Rumex, and 

 Polygonum, which were examined at the same time for compa- 

 rison. Sphaeraphides, indeed, are very common in Chenopo- 

 diaceae, as may be well seen in the leaves, stem, pith, and meso- 

 phlcEum of common garden weeds of the Goosefoot family, and, 

 as is well known, in some parts of certain Polygonaceae. In 

 Chenopodium and Atriplex most of the sphaeraphides are about 

 g-^th of an inch in diameter, and others are much larger. 



I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. De Carle Sowerby, 



