ANATOMY OP MELON&EITA MRLONGENA. 



371 



and others, and it seems reasonable to place the gastric plates of 

 Melongena in the same category. The behaviour of these plates 

 under the action of a few simple reagents has shown that chitin 

 does not form a constituent, and also that their cuticular sub- 

 stance is similar to that of the " sagitta" and crystalline style, 

 which in composition nearly approach mucin. These characters 

 will be best expressed in a table : — 



A histological examination of the gastric plates of Melongena, 

 if the material had been better preserved, would have thrown 

 light on their relations to the adjacent tissues ; but, as it happens, 

 the condition of the parts did not admit of any definite interpre- 

 tation. As seen in section, one of the gastric plates consists of a 

 more or less hyaline matrix containing scattered cells {cp., fig. 5) 

 and nuclei. The cells vary much in shape, being either oval, 

 circular, or fusiform, as shown in fig. 8. In one or two of the 

 larger plates apparent lamellse {hn?) occur, their Hnes of division 

 appearing granular, and having the cells definitely arranged 

 alongside. These lamellse are not satisfactorily seen in the 

 smaller plates. The basal part of each plate (/5.) assumes a 

 fibrous character and passes gradually into the underlying struc- 

 tures, in which there is usually present a loose tissue containing 

 lineally-disposed spaces. In one plate, at least, these spaces (Z<?., 

 fig. 5) will be found to decrease in size as they pass forwards, 

 and the most anterior space becomes continuous with the line of 

 division between two lamella;. In many of the smaller sections 

 there is present a dense and slightly fibrous layer {sh., fig. 5) 

 covering the cuticle {ct.). This investment in the smallest plates 

 appears to be continuous with the intestinal epithelium {ep. of 

 fig. 7), and in the larger ones it is absent from the greater part of 

 the free surface. It has been, however, impossible to determine 



