60 THE NATURALIST. 



small veins evidently for tlie purpose of conveying this coloured fluid 

 into tlie wall cells around. Now here we make this important discovery, 

 that that which some have called the stomata, of the iDetal, turn out to 

 be no stomata at all, and that which appeared to be stomata in the 

 form of a nucleus, when only examined by transmitted light, now, in the 

 correct course of examination shews up many new, and most important 

 facts. One of which is this, the manner in which the velvet-like appear- 

 ance on the petals of plants is mechanically brought about. You have 

 here then a fact before your eyes, which enforces more powerfully 

 than any words which I can use, the importance of making minute 

 observations as I intimated in the early part of this paper. 



The second case, or example in this division, will much resemble the 

 last — it is from a petal having a velvet-like appearance. The common 

 French marigold. You have here again, a roundish hexagonal form of 

 very fine or narrow outline, one -twelfth of a millemetre from side to 

 side both in length or breadth. — (mean measure of six cells.) On 

 examination by transmitted light, this presents many singular forms in 

 the process of getting the correct focus, first we see a series of darkish 

 spots, then a nucleus, then lines from this nucleus, then the ordinary 

 appearance of a nucleated cell — this, like the pansy, can only be correctly 

 seen in section — as the pyramid shaped bodies which cover the surface 

 can only be perfectly seen in that way. The under cuticle has no 

 pyramid shaped bodies on it. We now come to 



Division IV. 

 Iridescent or Glistening Cells. 

 Example the Common Tulip. 



Here we have a simple membranaceous cuticle having sets of cells 

 of simple formation yet with a peculiarity added to them not found in 

 any of our other divisions. These cells in shape are as nearly as possible, 

 very lengthened hexagons — or elongated parallelograms, having pointed 

 ends — no nucleus can be seen of any kind or form, in any of these spaces 

 which are one-third of a millemetre long, and only one-thirty-second of 

 a millemetre broad. There is no special kind of marking in this once 

 almost vi^orshipped flov/er. But it has a special singularity notwithstand- 

 ing its simplicity of structure, and thio singularity is its iridescence, 

 which is caused by a number of warted-like processes at the end of each 

 cell, and occasionally one or ty/o is found along the sides ; these by 



