170 THE PRIMORDIAL CELL. PART H. 



of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in the proportions 

 of 12, 10, and 10, respectively. 1 It forms the universal 

 framework or skeleton of the vegetable world, but it 

 has no share whatever in the vital functions of vege- 

 tation. It only serves as a protection to the globular 

 cell within it, which is called the primordial cell because 

 it is first formed, and because it pre-eminently con- 

 stitutes the living part, since the whole phenomena of 

 growth and reproduction depend upon it. In its earliest 

 stage the primordial cell is a globular mass of an azotized 

 colourless organizable liquid, called protoplasm, the life 

 blood of vegetation, containing albuminous matter and 

 dextrine or starch-gum. It is sufficiently viscid to 

 maintain its globular form, but its surface becomes 

 slightly consolidated into a delicate soft film. The 

 viscid albuminous liquid within it is mixed with highly 

 coloured semi-transparent particles containing starch ; 

 besides cavities or vacuoles full of a watery vegetable 

 sap of highly refractive power are imbedded in it. By 

 degrees the coloured particles become more and more 

 condensed within a globule of mucus, which constitutes 

 the nucleus of the primordial cell. The watery sap 

 in the cavities increases so much as ultimately to fill 

 nearly the whole of the cell at the expense of the 

 viscid protoplasm, which then merely forms a lining 

 to the cell either coloured or hyaline. The primordial 

 cell then secretes and envelopes itself with the strong 

 protecting coats of cellulose already described. On 

 account of its high colour, which is chiefly green, the 

 whole contents of the primordial cell are called the 

 endochrome. The minute globular nucleus contains 

 a liquid of high refractive power, and is coated with 

 a delicate film. Its structure, which is best seen in 

 the hairs and young parts of plants, is not always 

 the same, nor is it always in the centre of the pri- 



1 According to Payen. Like starch, it is stained blue by iodine. 



