68 THE PALM-STEM : 



to him ; they were chiefly two stems, imported for com- 

 mercial purposes, one of which has black, the other red 

 fibres. Lestiboudois believes the slender fibres of the 

 outer layers to originate partly from the cellular rind, and 

 partly in the form of branches of the larger fibres ; and 

 he states that, in consequence of manifold ramifications 

 and lateral connexions, they form a continuous network. 

 In the upper end of the fibres, entering the leaf, he like- 

 wise finds not only, frequently, a division of them into 

 several branches, entering separately into the leaf, but 

 also when they enter undivided into the leaf, dense rami- 

 fications which become blended with other fibres. He 

 further assumes that the fibres are not all formed at the 

 periphery of the stem, but that from the central vascular 

 bundles, and from those running in the hard, woody 

 layers, slender fibres, like those lying beneath the rind, 

 run out ; and from this he draws the conclusion that it is 

 clear that all fibres are destined to produce new fibres. 

 The particular fibres do not, indeed, run in unbroken 

 continuity through the whole stem, but the fibres of the 

 different parts of the stem are so connected that they 

 spring out from one another, and before they emerge into 

 the leaf, give off branches, which are destined to replace, 

 in the upper part of the stem, the fibres emerging into 

 the leaves lower down. From this it is clear, that in the 

 Monocotyledons the life is not exclusively seated in the 

 outer layers ; if the stem be cut into all round, down to 

 the hard layer, in a Yucca or Aloe fruticosa, the plants 

 will live, unhurt, for many years ; the only phenomenon 

 which appears in the wound, being the formation of a 

 protruding collar on the upper border of the incision, 

 from out of which numerous roots frequently break forth. 

 Before I follow the author further in his exposition, I 

 have to state, that I am very far from implying a doubt 

 of the correctness of his observations, but yet I cannot 

 forbear from questioning the universality and frequency 

 of these ramifications in the vascular bundles of the Palms. 

 I have stated above, 'that in particular stems of the Cocos- 



