268 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 



the nectary, and is really formed by carrying the 

 upper part of the calyx down the stalk. If we com- 

 pare its position and relations to the rest of the 

 flower with those of the Tropaeolum majus (Fig. 66), 

 which is of the same order (Geraniacea?), we shall 

 find that the difference lies in the latter nectary being 

 free, while the former is attached (adnate) to the 

 pedicel, or stalk, of the flower. If we now remove 

 the petals, and look at the calyx from the front, we 

 see into its opening (n, B). Making cross sections 

 through the lines a and b, we find the nectary wider 

 above, as at D, and narrow below, as at E. A keen 

 razor, dipped into methylated spirit, will take off slices 

 sufficiently thin for microscopic examination, under 

 a cover glass, in water. Cutting D longitudinally, 

 so that the nectary is divided, and then removing a 

 thin slice from that which forms the upper part of 

 the Figure, and magnifying about 200 diameters, we 

 find the outside to consist of cuticular cells, carrying 

 glandular hairs {gh, H), which secrete a resinous 

 body, of strong odour. The cells on the opposite 

 side of the section are not unlike those of the ex- 

 ternal cuticle, because they have here no secretory 

 function, although they constitute the lining of the 

 upper part of the nectary. Taking a section (G) 

 from the face of E, which lies in the line b (A), 

 we discover the hairs and cuticle to be of precisely 

 the same character as those previously noticed ; but 

 the lining cells [nc] of this part of the nectary are 

 totally different, extending inwards by almost pointed 

 prominences. Now cutting E longitudinally, and 

 taking from it a thin section, we find the lining cells 



