Onar. III. BIGNONIACES. ~ 101 
which sometimes wholly enveloped and concealed the 
hooks themselves. The surfaces of these balls secrete 
some viscid resinous matter, to which the fibres of the 
flax, &c., adhere. When a fibre has become fastened 
to the surface, the cellular tissue does not grow 
directly beneath it, but continues to grow closely on 
each side; so that when several adjoining fibres, 
though excessively .thin, were caught, so many crests 
of cellular matter, each not as thick as a human hair, 
grew up between them, and these, arching over on 
both sides, adhered firmly together. As the whole 
surface of the ball continues to grow, fresh fibres 
adhere and are afterwards enveloped; so that I have 
seen a little ball with between fifty and sixty fibres 
of flax crossing it at various angles and all embedded 
more or less deeply. Every gradation in the process 
could be ‘followed—some fibres merely sticking to 
the surface, others lying in more or less deep furrows, 
or deeply embedded, or passing through the very 
centre of the cellular ball. The embedded fibres are 
so closely clasped that they cannot be withdrawn. 
The outgrowing tissue has so strong a tendency to 
unite, that two balls produced by distinct tendrils 
sometimes unite and grow into a single one. 
On one occasion, when a tendril had curled round 
a stick, half an inch in diameter, an adhesive disc 
was formed; but this does not generally occur in the 
case of smooth sticks or posts. If, however, the tip 
catches a minute projecting point, the other branches 
form discs, especially if they find crevices to craw] 
