256 



ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



liad .shrunken at the inside corner of the cellu- 

 lose membrane. The prolapse was gone, and 

 the edg-es of the leak could be observed very 

 fairl)-. It u-asa membrane, and this membrane 

 was composed of nitrogenous substances, cor- 

 roded by acetic acid ! 



r A E T III. 



The third part to consider is the contents of 

 the vegetable cell. This content conducts us 

 into a labyrinth, because every thing we win 

 out of the plants can be searched in the contents 

 of the cell. Proceeding with order we may 

 find Ariadne's thread. 



We mav divide the contents into starch, fat, 

 crystals, chlorophyll, granular substances, gases ; 

 or we may have nothing but the cytoblast or 

 nucleus. 



1. Starch is so well known that I need not 

 remind that it is colored by an aqueous solution 

 of iodine, deeply blue, that it often has an amor- 

 phous form, as in the root of Valerian, or a 

 form of granules, or that of roundish bodies (as 

 in the Potato) in most of the grains, and that 

 of compound grannies in Sarsaparilla. (Fig. 

 141.) 



2. Fat is found in many cells. It looks under 

 the microscope like a white or colored round 

 spot. The microscope alone gives not the con- 

 viction of the fatty constitution of these globules. 

 It is by dissolving the fat in ether that we see it 

 disappear, and after the evaporation of the ether 

 we see the fat spots disseminated around the 

 object-glass, often very distant from its primi- 

 tive situation in the cell: a good object for this 

 observation is the rind of an orange {Citrus 

 Aurantium, L.) A tine slice displays largo cells 

 filled with yellow round spots. Before adding 

 the ether, I added acetic acid to resolve the 

 nitrogenous matters which might surround the 

 fat-drops. The ether is known to coagulate 

 these matters, and so its access to the fat might 

 be obstructed. By the addition of ether the 

 fat-drops disappear quickly under the develop- 

 ment of gas, whose globules show a rapid move- 

 ment in any direction. 



TnK Natural Order Leguminosm furnishes 

 many of the most valuable vegetable products: 

 peas, beans and lentils for food ; the Tonka bean 

 and sweet clover for fragrance ; the Brazil wood 

 logwood and indigo for coloring matter; the 

 rosewood, locust, and other trees for valuable 

 timber; and a long list of medicinal substances, 

 as liquorice, tamarinds, gura-kino, gum-catechu, 

 gum-Arabic, gum-tragacanth, balsam of Peru, 

 balsam of Tolu, senna, &c. 



ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



Poisonous Plants.— We notite with pleasure tlmt 

 Botany lias lieon wedded to Entomology in your publi- 

 cation, and beg your attention to the ent-losed plants, 

 which were received from the western borders of our 

 State, with statement that a lamily had used thera as 

 greens, and almost immediately sickened with symp- 

 toms of poison, two of them having died already. 



Geo. T. Anthony. 



Leavenwobtii, KkHB. 



The specimens as they reached us were so wilted and 

 dried up as to be in a bad state for recognition. They 

 represented two herbaceous plants — one of them con- 

 sisting of young and small specimens of Troximon cuspi- 

 datum, Pursh, a plant of the Natural Order Compofitm, 

 having relationship In botanical characters to the Dan- 

 delion, and sometimes called the Prairie Dandelion. It 

 occurs sparingly in Noi;thern Illinois, becoming more 

 common in Iowa and westward. It has a long thick root 

 with a milky juice, much like that of the Dandelion. 

 We can hardly suppose that this plant is poisonous. 

 We do not know that any American plants of this family 

 are strictly poisonous, though some of them are acrid, 

 and would be too disagreeable to be eaten in any quan- 

 tity. The other plant we are not yet able to determine. 

 It has the appearance of some species of Artemesia, but 

 there is not sufficient material tor identification. It 

 has just started its growth, and consists of a small tuft, 

 about tlu'ee inches high, of rather wedge-shaped leaves, 

 gashed near the top, and whitish wooly below. Let. it 

 be watched until it conies into flower, then it can be 

 determined. If these ai'e the plants which caused the 

 poisoning, tin' public welfare requires that they should 

 be known so as to be avoided. 



Plants to Name— J/;'. 5. A. Forbes, Benton Ills.— 

 The plants you send are from one of the most interesting 

 botanical regions of this country, i.e.. Southern Illinois. 

 A large number of plants are found there whose native 

 home seems to be much farther South. These are 

 mostly well dried and easily determined. No. 1 is the 

 large flowered Synandra {Synandra grandiflora, Nutt), 

 a handsome plant of the Mint family. No. 2 is the 

 Lyre-leaved Sage {Salvia hjrata, L.^, also a member of 

 the Mint family. No. 3 is a Wild Cat-briar (Smilax 

 tamaoides, L.) No. 4 is a species of Ground Phlox 

 (Phlox liflida. Beck.) No. 5 is Obolaria rirgiiiica, L., 

 without a common, name, a small and delicate flower of 

 the Gentian family. No. 6, is one of the Winter-berries 

 {Hex decidua, Walt.), belonging to the same genus as 

 the Holly . It is a shrub growing six or eight feet high, 

 anti in places where it is abundant the appearance of 

 the bushes in the winter is very beautiful from the 

 abundance of the bright red berries. No. T is the low 

 Blue-berry (Vaccinium vacillans, Sol.) No. 8 is the 

 Farkle-berry of the South (Vaccinium arloreum, Mar- 

 shall), which is an evergreen bush growing on rocky 

 hill sides. No. It is the Small-flowered Valerian ( Vale- 

 riana pauciflora . Michx.) No. 10 is the Narrow-Ioaved 

 Fever-wort (Triosteum angusti/olium, L.) considerably 

 smaller than the common species, T. per/oliatum, L. 

 No. 11 is the Buffalo-clover (Tri/olium rejlemtm, L.; No. 

 12 is the Butterfly Pea (Clitoria Mariana, L.), a hand- 

 some large-flowered plant of the Pea family, worthy of 

 cultivation. No. 13 is the Water-locust (Gleditschia 

 monosperma, Walt.) No. 14 is the Cucumber-tree (Mag- ^ 

 nolia acuminata, L.), a large and beautiful tree, which 

 is hardy much farther north, and ought to be cultivated 

 for shade and ornament. 



