FOUNDATIONS OF ANATOMY 39 



and stomata, though crudely drawn, are indicated clearly 

 enough. I am quite at a loss to understand how Sachs 

 came to write that Malpighi " never succeeded in finding 

 openings for the entrance of air in the roots or the leaves." 



Here is Malpighi's conception of the functions of 

 leaves. " Hence the active leaves seem to have been 

 contrived by Nature for the digestion of food which is 

 their chief function, for that part of the nutrient sap 

 which enters the roots from below and which is not 

 directed into the adjacent transverse branches, at length 

 slowly reaches the leaves by their woody veins ; this is 

 necessary so that the sap should linger in the adjacent 

 vesicles and so be mingled with the sap already there 

 and be fermented. In this process the warmth of the 

 surrounding atmosphere is of no little assistance, for it 

 helps the more readily to evaporate that which is of no 

 service. For this purpose Nature has provided the leaves 

 with numerous special glands for the sweating forth and 

 gradual elimination of moisture, so that the sap, being 

 thereby condensed, may the more readily be digested 

 in the leaves." From this you will see that Malpighi 

 regarded stomata primarily as organs of transpiration. 



Like Grew, Malpighi includes in his book an account of 

 his investigations into the structure of the fruit, the seed, 

 and embryo. His physiological conceptions as to the 

 functions of the parts of the flower are quite as crude as 

 those of Grew. Indeed he seems to have regarded the 

 formation of seed as a kind of bud propagation, and 

 thought that all the floral envelopes and stamens did was 

 to remove certain fancied impurities from the sap that 

 went to nourish the seed. Pollen, in short, is a sort of 

 excrete product detrimental to good seed production. 



Malpighi also gives a fairly correct account of the 

 structure and germination of various seeds, such as the 

 bean and the date. Like Cordus, he recognised the root 

 tubercles of the Leguminosae, but of course made no 

 attempt at determining their function. 



