256 



ENTOMOLOGIST AND BOTANIST. 



had slininken at the inside corner of the cellu- 

 lose membraue. The prolapse was gone, and 

 the edges of the leak could be observed very 

 fairly. It was a membrane, and this membrane 

 was composed of nitrogenous substances, cor- 

 roded by acetic acid! 



PART 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 

 And Aiiadne's thread. 



"VVe may 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 granules in Sarsaparilla. (Fig. 

 141.) 



2. Fat is found in many colls. 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 other that we see it 

 disappear, and after the evaporation of the ether 

 we sec 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 fine slice displays large 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 iu anv direction. 



The 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, gum-kino, gum-catechu, 

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

 balsam of Tolu, senna, &c. 



ANSWERS TO COKRESPONDENTS. 



Poisonous Plants. — We notice with pleasure tliat 

 Botany has been wedded to Entomology in your publi- 

 cation, and beg your attention to tlie enclosed plants, ^ 

 wMch were received from the western borders of our " 

 State, witli statement that a lamily had used them as 

 greens, and almost immediately sickened with symp- 

 toms of poison, two of them having died already. 



Geo. T. Anthony. 



Leavenwohtu. Kans, 



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 mispi- 

 diitum, Pursh, a plant of the Natural Order Compos-itai, 

 having relationship in botanical characters to the Dan- 

 delion, and sometimes called the Prairie Dandelion. It 

 occurs sparingly in Northern 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 Artemesla, but 

 there is not sufficient material for identification. It 

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

 about three inches high, of rather wedge-shaped leaves, 

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

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

 determined. If these are the plants which caused the 

 poisoning, tlic public welfare requires that they should 

 be known so as to bo avoided. 



Plants to Pfanie — Mr, S. A. Fories, lienlon Els, — 

 The plants you send are from one of the most interesting 

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

 A large number of plants arc found there whose native 

 home seems to be much fartlicr 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 fiinuly. No. 2 is the 

 Lyre-lca\ed Sage (Salvia lyrata, L.'), also a member of 

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

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

 {Phlox h'fllda, Beck.) No. .5 is Oholaria Virgi/iica, L., 

 without a common name, a small and delicate flower of 

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

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

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

 and in jilaces where it is abundant the aiipearance of 

 the bushes iu the winter is very beautiful from the 

 abundance of the bright red berries. No. 7 is the low 

 Blue-berry [Vacciiiium vaoillans, Sol.) No. 8 is the 

 Farkle-bcrry of the South (Vacduium arboreiim, Mar- 

 shall), which is an evergreen bush growing on rocky 

 liill sides. No. is the Small-flowered Valerian (Vale- 

 riana pauciflora , Michx.) No. 10 is the Narrow-leaved 

 Fever-wort (Triodeum angustifolium, L.) considerably 

 smaller than the common species, T. perfoUatum, L.. 

 No. 11 is the Bufiixlo-clover {Trifolium reflerum, h.) No. 

 12 is the Butterfly Vca, {Oliioria Mariana, L.), a hand- 

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

 cultivation. No. 13 is the Water-locust {Gleditsclda 

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

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

 is hardy much farther north, and ought to be cultivated 

 for shade and ornament. 



