50 A STUDY OF WHEAT. 



elongated cells, having somewhat the appearance of teeth. These 

 central openings that approach so near the top of the cell, 

 are not of a uniform width, but are irregular, so if the section 

 had been cut a trifle nearer either end of the bean, we should 

 see some of the openings larger and some smaller than those 

 seen in the illustration. The walls are thick, indicating a strong 

 structure. The second or middle coat b is composed of thin- 

 walled, nearly square cells, each cell containing a crystal. The 

 crystals are of uniform shape and appearance, and stand up 

 like sentinels in each cell. The third, or inner seed coat, con- 

 sists of loosely packed, irregular, thin-walled cells. They are 

 empty and collapsed, though they swell out when soaked in 

 water. Below this layer, though forming a part of it, are found 

 rows of beautiful spiral vessels. 



All of these different structures are found in a cross sec- 

 tion of the very thin coat or skin that rubs off so easily from 

 beans after they have soaked in water a few minutes. It is 

 this same skin that shrivels up or wrinkles when beans are 

 first thrown in water. The way to secure a cross section for 

 study under the microscope, is to take some of the thin skin 

 from beans that have been soaking in water for several hours, 

 and fold it together, so as to have four or more thicknesses, 

 then place it between the smooth edges of elderberry pith and 

 continue to cut very thin sections from the whole, until you 

 have secured one so thin you can distinguish readily all of 

 the different structures. A sharp razor or section cutter will be 

 needed for making the section. 



If from the outside of a bean which has been soaking in 

 water for several hours, the outermost part of the skin be 

 picked or cut off with a razor, we can see the surface of the 

 outer coat, as in figure 8. The cells are now seen on the up- 

 per surface, and they are quite regular in size, surrounded with 

 plane faces or angles, rather than being round, although they 

 do not all have the same number of sides. Each cell is fur- 

 nished with a central depression, and the center or lowest part 

 of the depression seems to be a line broken abruptly, and the 

 ends branching regularly, two at a time. This coat always 

 presents a beautiful appearance under the microscope. It is 



