F, H. Herrick — Abnormal Hichory Nuts. 2.59 



a-G and by the drawings of the profile and transverse sections 

 of the normal and abnormal nuts (figs. 2, 3, 4, 5). 



nil 



Figure 4 is a line drawing of fig. 1, 5, and shows the profile 

 of the nut, and one-half of the mould, so to speak, of the inner 

 nut and its stem. In the transverse section of the normal 

 hickory nut [Carya sxdcata) the outline is generally oval and the 

 two folded halves of the meat are seen (fig. 3). In the abnormal 

 nut (fig, 5) the form of the endocarp at the outer surface is 

 markedly hexagonal, while the dense shell of the inner^nut 

 appears as a ring (represented black to differentiate it) and 

 within this are the compacted intertwined cotyledons of the 

 meat. 



6. 7. 8. 



The meat of one of the nuts when removed (fig. 6), though 

 preserved for twenty-one years, *had not perceptibly shrunken. 

 It was covered with a dark brown skin, and capped with a thin 

 disk of tissue corresponding to the hilum of the stalk. There 

 were slight longitudinal creases on its surface, and in trans- 

 verse sections taken at different levels (figs. 7, 8) we see the 

 complicated foldings of the two cotyledonous leaves. This 

 nut had a slightly bitter, but not unpleasant, aromatic taste. 



Histology of the normal endocarp. 



Part of a transverse section of a normal nut is illustrated in 

 fig. 9, the position of the area drawn being shown at the upper 

 corner to the right. Near the surface are several tiers of 

 sclerenchyma, its cells being of relatively small size, with thick 

 walls of a light brown color and penetrated by numerous 

 branching canals. The lumina of these dead cells and the 

 canals are partially or completely filled with a dark brown 

 deposit. They also contain characteristic crystals, often of 

 relatively large size. Then follow several tiers of elongated 

 cells, then a thicker stratum of sclerenchyma, whose irregular 

 cells are cut in various planes. Finally the folded inner sur- 

 face of the endocarp next to the meat is carpeted by a thin 

 layer of deep brown color, the metamorphosed product of 

 several strata of flattened cells. 



