WAYSIDE WEEDS. 181 



leaves 6f every surface thrietj, the bright feiiiimg 

 steins of the grassesj Or of the smooth, richly* 

 spotted hemlock, the bark of birch, beech, oak, 

 or pine, are all portions of our plant clothing. 

 True it is that much of the colour which varies the 

 plant exterior belongs rather to- the colour cells just 

 below the plant covering or cuticle, than to the 

 cuticle itself, but stiU we may legitimately regard all 

 as part of the array which God has giveni A cover- 

 ing which permits, the free transmission of colour 

 must, necessarily, be extremely thin and transparent. 



Fig. 109. — Plant Cuticle magnified, showing outlines-of cells^ 

 a, a, a, Stomates or breathing porea. 



and this any one may see who will take the trouble 

 to carefully strip the cuticle from a leaf j put under 

 a tolerably good microscope, it will exhibit that 

 appearance shown in Fig. 109, the irregular lines 

 marking the boundaries of the flattened cells which 

 form the cuticle. These cells, which are in one 

 or more layers, although generally transparent, are 

 occasionally coloured, and in many instances contain 

 waxy or siliceous (flint substance) deposits, the latter 

 substance is found particularly in the stems of the 



