ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



217 



tlie European Anemone patens, and is distin- 

 t;iiislied as the variety Nuttalliana, Gr. It grows 

 somewhat sparinoly on "ravelly hills, or banks, 

 in lun-thcrn Illinois, in Wisconsin and Minnesota 

 more almndantly, and theiiee westwardly to the 

 K()cky]Monntnins. The flowi'r (Fig. 185, a) usually 

 makes its appearance early in April. It isof pretty 

 larife size, and of a bluish-piiriile color, varying 

 to a liojit blue. The flower has not the usiuxl 

 two sets of floral leaves, i. e., calyx and corolla, 

 but only the external set of sepals, which, how- 

 ever, are petal-like in texture and color. There 

 are usually six of these sepals, from one to one 

 and a half inches long, oblong, and covered ex- 

 ternally witli scattered silky hairs. 



The flower blooms before the development of 

 the leaves, and at lirst seems to be closely sur- 

 rounded by the involucre of finely dissected 

 leaves which is just below it; but it gradually 

 pushes itself up on astern, which finally becomes 

 two or three times as long as tlie portion of the 

 stem below the involucre (Fig. 135, b). Finally 

 the sepals and stamens dr<ii) oft", and a head of 

 fifty to eighty seeds, with fine silky tails an 

 inch and a half long, is matured. During this 

 time, also, the radical leaves (Fig. 135, c) are 

 developed. The whole plant is at first covered 

 with silky hairs, which mostly wear oft' with age. 



In the north of Europe this plant and a nearly 

 allied species. Anemone Pulsatilla, are well 

 known as the Pasque flower, or Easter flower, 

 and they are often used to decorate the cliurches 

 during Easter. The Pulsatilla has also attained 

 great celebrity as a medicinal plant, especially 

 in homceopathic practice. 



In tropical countries many species of plants 

 live entirely upon what they obtain from tlie 

 air. They usually grow upon trees, but not in 

 the manner of pai'asites, because they do not 

 insinuate their loots into the tissues of the ti'ee, 

 or plant, and draw from it its juices. These are 

 called Epiphytes, or air-ph;nts. It is stated that 

 in the island of Java there arc over three hundred 

 species of Orchidaceous plants of this character. 

 The Spanish Moss of our Southern States, which 

 is seen hanging in long, tangled threads from 

 the branches of trees, belongs to this class of air- 

 plants. Many lichens growing on bare rocks are 

 true epiphj/tes, as is also a species of lichen ( I'ar- 

 melia moUinscula, Ach.) which grows on the 

 arid plains of the Uocky Mountain region. 

 Parasitic plants differ from air-plants in not only 

 growing upon other plants, but in drawing their 

 sustenance from them. The Mistletoe strikes its 

 roots into the branch on which it grows so tho- 

 roughly as to be inseparable from it. 



VEGETABLE CELLS. 



R. I'KLIX SCIIAAN, CHICAGO. 



PART I. 



In our micros(uipical investigations we meet 

 with two kinds of object.* — those originating in 

 the mineral kingdom, as crystals, their polariza- 

 tion, decomposition, etc.; and tho.se having 

 coimection with organic life. The latter are 

 classed in two gran<l subdivisions, viz., the Vege- 

 table and Animal Kingdoms. In both we find 

 one connnon ground form of being, the cell. 

 This is the foundation-stone of the entire Vege- 

 table and Animal Kingdoms, and is a subject of 

 overwhelming importance. We propose at this 

 time to discuss the vegetable cells, in their 

 different phases of generation, life and death. 



The vegetable cell is comiKised of an outer 

 coat of cellulose, inclnding closely anothei- of 

 nitrogenous matter, called the primordial vesicle. 

 This contains certain substances, as starch, fat, 

 crystals, chloroph>l, granular matters, gas, and 

 a nucleus called cytol)last, which contains one or 

 more nucleoli. Let us pass in re-view all these 

 parts, in order to have an acquaintance with the 

 whole cell. 



1. The Cellulose. — The cellulose pure is white, 

 transparent, diai)hanic, insoluble in water, in 

 spirit of wine, ether, or the fixed or etheric oils. 

 Feeble solutions of acid exert but little action 

 upon it, even by boiling; it is the same with 

 feeble alkaline solutions. The resistance which 

 the cellulose opposes to these reactives varies, 

 however, with its cohesion; the newly built 

 cellulose alters easier than that of older forma- 

 tion. 



Concentrated sulphuric acid (S O'') transforms 

 the (^'Uulose into a substance called "dextrine.'" 

 Nitric acid (N O') transforms it into an exceed- 

 ing cond)ustible and explosive substance known 

 under the name of ••cotton-])owder.'" Boiling 

 nitric acid transforms cc^llulose into oxalic acid. 

 Acetic acid does not attack the cclhilose. The 

 ccllnhise docs not change its color by the addi- 

 tion (if an ac|ueous solution of iodine; but when 

 the suliihuric acid has commenced its disaggre- 

 gation, the iodine gives it a beautiful blue hue. 



This chemical reaction is one ot those we use 

 to prove the existence of cellulose under the 

 microscope. The chemical composition of cellu- 

 lose is represented by carbon'-, hydrogen'", and 

 oxygen "'. 



Some may wonder how we are able to give 

 these facts on studying a membrane not thicker 

 than one ten-fhonsaudth jiart of an inch. We 

 state these facts by way of isolation — by t.aking 

 divers (larls of vegetables and submitting them 



