THE GENERAL STRUCTURE OF PLANTS 5 



tilled with a watery fluid. In the multicellular plants each 

 chamber during life contains its own protoplast or little mass 



FIG. 5. VEGETABLE CELLS. 



A, very young ; B, a little older, showing commencing formation of vacuole. 

 p, protoplasm ; n, nucleus ; v, a vacuole. 



of protoplasm, which is connected, as already mentioned, 



with its neighbours on all sides In such cavities the proto- 



plast when young usually occupies the whole of the interior 



(fig. 5, A), but when they are adult it generally lies as a 



peripheral layer round the wall, to 



which it is closely pressed, while a 



central vacuole occupies the greater 



space of the cavity enclosed by the 



cell -walls (fig. 6). Sometimes the 



vacuole is crossed by a number of 



bridles or strands of protoplasm, 



which generally pass from a some- 



what central spot to the periphery. 



The protoplasm is transparent, but 



somewhat granular in appearance, 



and is saturated with water. Some- 



where in its Substance, whether it FlG - 6. ADULT VEGETABLE 

 <in ,1 11 ., ., CELLS. x 500. (After 



nils the cell -cavity or not, there Sachs.) 

 exists a special differentiated por- 



, 11 i .-, 7 .. 



tion called the nucleus, bometirnes, 



but only in particular cells, the pro- 



toplasm contains other differentiated portions, distinct 



from the rest of the substance, which are known as 



/, ceii-waii; p, protoplasm; 



k, k', nucleus, with nu- 



cieoii ; ', 



