THE VOLATILE PART OP PLANTS. 



107 



cerifera,) and e from mace, (an appendage to the nutmeg-, 

 or fruit of the Myristica moschata.) 



Crystalloid aleurone. — It has been ah-eady remarked 

 that crystallized albuminoids may be obtained from the 

 blood of animals. It is equally true that bodies of similar 

 character exist in plants, as was first observed by Hartig, 

 {JEntwioJcelungsgeschichte des FflansenJceims, p. 104.) In 

 form they sometimes imitate crystals quite perfectly. Fig. 

 21, a ; in other cases, b, they are rounded masses, having 

 some crystalline planes or facets. They are soft, yield 

 easily to pressure, swell up to double their bulk when 



Fig. 21. 



soaked in weak acids or alkalies, and their angles have 

 none of the constancy peculiar to proper crystals. There- 

 fore the term crystalloid, i. e. having the likeness of crys- 

 tals, is more appropriate than crystallized. 



As Cohn first noticed, {Jour, filr Frakt. Ghem., 80, 

 p. 129,) crystalloid aleurone may be observed in the outer 

 portions of the potato tuber, in which it invariably jjre- 

 sents a cubical form. It is best found by examining the 

 cells that adhere to the rind of a potato that has been 

 boiled. In Fig. 21, a represents a cell from a boiled pota- 

 to, in the centre of which is seen the cube of aleurone. 

 It is surrounded by the exfoliated remnants of starch- 

 grains. In the same figure, h exhibits the contents of 

 a cell from the seed of the bur reed, {Sparganium ramo- 

 sum,) a plant that is common along the borders of ponds. 

 In the center is a comparatively large mass of aleurone, 

 having crystalloid facets. 



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