70 
HISTOLOGY OF VEGETABLES. 
along the part of the leaf on which these stings are 
situated, the free extremity is rubbed off, the point of 
the sting perforates the skin, and, by the pressure of 
the cells at the base of the hair, the poisonous matter 
is forced into the wound in a similar manner to the 
venom from the fang of a serpent. 
We now arrive at the most highly-organized products 
of secretion of the vegetable cell, viz.: those especially 
engaged in the development of future plants ; they are 
called Phytozoa, or plant-animals, being the representa- 
tives of the Spermatozoa in the animal. They appear 
to have been first discovered by Mr. Cornelius Varley, in 
1833, in that part of the fructification of the Char a 
vulgaris known as the globule, and have since been 
noticed by Meyen and Unger in mosses, and by Nageli 
in ferns. 
Mr. Varley ’s account of these bodies is so true to 
nature, that I may perhaps be permitted to extract a 
short paragraph from his paper in the second volume of 
the “ Transactions of the Microscopical Society 
“ The ripe globule spontaneously opens. The fila- 
ments also expand and separate into clusters. They are 
so numerous, that I have not been able to decide upon 
their exact number. 
“ The tube-like filaments are divided into numerous 
compartments, in which are produced the most extra- 
ordinary objects 1 have ever observed of vegetable 
origin. At first they are seen agitated and moving in 
their cells, where they are coiled up in their confined 
