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33. 
Original Articles. 
j HISTOLOGICAL NOTES. 
Bv W. R. M‘Nas, M.D. 
(Read before the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, Jan. 11th, 1872.) 
On a Modification of Schultz’s Process, " 
In order to separate the cells of plants, en recommended that por- 
tions of the tissue should = y ced in chlorate of pona and nitric acid. 
No quantities are stated, the strength p acid is also omitted 
in all accounts of Schultz's s e s that I have Mid. I tried taking a 
little vie of ees and a li ttle nitric acid, as il in Naegeli and 
Schwendener’s boo the microscope, and, on placing the portio s of 
tissue to bs sesto on into the test-tube, had the satisfaction of seeing 
them lantantihy dissolved, abundance of nitrous fumes being at the same 
time giv j rof. Chureh kindly came to my Bue ded and, by 
ene the tissue in a test-tube with two drachms of nitric acid, of sp. ¢ 
gave. goo ults A action was slow, and after keeping the bah. n 
of tissue in the solution for a — the cells could be separated. No 
nitrous fumes are given off, an the action is slow, it is quite under 
control. Specimens of scalariforin vessels, prepared in this way, are ex- 
hibited ; they are from P/eris aquilina, and show that each cell forming 
the vessel can be separated. It is also to be noticed that the ends are 
not hexagonal pyrainids, but the cells are cut. obliquely dd the vessel 
being continuous. In some specimens I have observed that no cell-wall 
exists at the junctions, merely the bars of thickening matter, os 
of gridiron appearance, while a free channel must exist between the com- 
pouent parts of the scalariform vesse 
On the Fibre in the Stem of Muntingia. 
In August last J. Anderson Henry, Esq., of H ay Lodge, directed my 
attention to an Australian plant, pos ie whisk he informed me 
yielded a useful fibre. Having just concluded the investigation o 
. of which I had just examined. On making sections of the stem of Mun- 
tingia, abundance of bast-cells were observed between the em unt and 
the epidermis. The'epidermis of the stem produces numerous hairs; un- 
erneath it are a few layers of subepidermal cells, then the bast- pir in 
bundles, alternating with soft bast, and divided by the expanded ends of 
the medullary rays. The wood-cylinder is well developed, and has a 
well-marked pit in the centre. The walls of the bast-cells are thin, and of 
comparatively little strength, and from the close way in which they are 
united into- bundles, it would be quite impossible to separate the ultimate 
as to render it available for the manufacture of fine fabrics. 
Ha quantity of fibre in the stem is very ka ak but I do not think 
e used except for the manufacture of ro 
N.3. VOL. I. [FEBRUARY 1, 1872.] D 
