COMMON OBJECTS WORTH EXAMINING. 303 



frequently cultivated) have large stomata, which con- 

 tain, beneath the general surface of the leaf, but often 

 projecting from the external aperture, many short, 

 variously curved hairs. To observe them, cut with a 

 sharp razor a very thin slice across the leaf, and ex- 

 amine the section in water, decolorizing and staining 

 it, if desired, by some of the many processes described 

 in the books devoted to microscopical mounting. The 

 leaves also contain numerous crystals in the form called 

 sphaeraphides, a sphere of crystal roughened by minute 

 points projecting from all parts of the surface. 



16. Plant Hairs are as inexhaustible in appearance 

 and structure as are animal hairs. They are formed of 

 cells of varied size, shape, and contents. In many a 

 circulation of the protoplasm or cyclosis may be 

 noticed. They are simple or branched, terminating in 

 a long point, in a blunt apex, or in a spherical or other 

 form of gland. They may be examined by stripping 

 off the cuticle and studying it as a tranparent object in 

 water. If the air adheres to the hairs and obscures 

 them, as often happens to the very abundant branch- 

 ing hairs of the common mullein {Verbdscum) , dip the 

 cuticle in a little alcohol, and immediately transfer it 

 to the drop of water already prepared on the slide. 

 Hairs are to be found on some part of almost every 

 plant. 



17. Pollen from the anthers of blooming flowers is 

 one of the most attractive of common objects which 

 the beginner can find for examination as a dry mount. 

 It may be obtained by simply tapping the slide with 

 the ripe anther, when the pollen will be visible to the 

 naked eye as a yellow dust, resolvable by the micro- 

 scope into golden grains of varied forms and often of 



