WORK OF THE STEM 79 
through the root-hairs of the growing plant it differs but 
little from ordinary spring water or well water. The 
liquid which flows from the cut stem of a “bleeding” 
grapevine, which has been pruned just before the buds 
have begun to burst in the spring, is mainly. water with 
dissolved organic acids, proteids, and sugar. The sap which 
is obtained from maple trees in late winter or early spring, 
and is boiléd down for syrup or sugar, is still richer in 
nutritious material than the water of the grapevine, while 
the elaborated sap which is sent so abundantly into the 
ear of corn at its period of filling out, or into the grow- 
ing pods of beans and peas, or into the rapidly forming 
acorn or the chestnut, contains great stores of food suited 
to sustain plant or animal life. 
EXPERIMENT XI 
Rise of Water in Stems. — Cut some short branches from an apple 
tree or a cherry tree and stand the lower end of each in red ink; 
try the same experiment with twigs of oak, ash, or other porous 
wood, and after some hours} examine with a magnifying glass and 
with the microscope, using the 2-inch objective, successive cross- 
sections of one or more twigs of each kind. Note exactly the por- 
tions through which the ink has traveled. Pull off the leaves from 
one of the stems after standing in the eosin solution, and notice 
the spots on the leaf-scar through which the eosin has traveled. 
These spots show the positions of the leaftraces, or fibro-vascular 
bundles, connecting the stem and the leaf. Repeat with several 
potatoes cut crosswise through the middle. Try also some mono- 
cotyledonous stems, such as those of the lily or asparagus. For the 
sake of comparison between roots and stems, treat any convenient 
root, such as a parsnip, in the same way. 
11f the twigs are leafy and the room is warm, only from 5 to 30 minutes 
may be necessary. 
