1 T9 
matter, and that the animal cell had to destroy it in order 
that, by its alternation of creation and destruction, the general 
end of life might be attained. At present we are compelled 
to admit that, if the vegetable cell is the seat of a pheno- 
menon of reduction by which carbonic acid is decomposed 
into its elements, a similar phenomenon is produced iu the 
animal cell. Non-azotised combinations, it is now known, 
can be formed in the interior of the animal cell. Alexander 
Schmidt was the first to observe that, after the addition of 
carbonic acid to blood, the total contents of carbonic acid 
diminished in certain circumstances. This observation fur- 
nishes direct support to the idea of a phenomenon of reduc- 
tion. The blood globule plays, therefore, a part analogous to 
that played by chlorophyll in the vegetable cell in contact 
with the carbonic acid of the atmosphere. The only diffe- 
rence which exists is, that in the blood-cell there is, besides, 
a process of oxidation going on which surpasses the process of 
reduction. Just as the chlorophyll of the vegetable cell 
absorbs carbonic acid, so does its colourless protoplasm 
absorb oxygen, and this corresponds completely to the absorp- 
tion of oxygen by the blood-cell in the lungs. 
Structure of Akazga Stems. By Dr. Fraser. Proc. 
Botan. Society of Edinburgh . — The author endeavoured to 
ascertain the differences between akazga and nux vomica by 
examining the microscopic anatomy of their stems. The 
following descriptions indicate the principal characters of 
these : — 
Akazga . — The pith consists of complete parenchyma. Its 
cells have, in transverse section, a more or less regularly 
hexagonal form, and, in longitudinal section, they present 
the appearance of four-sided parallelograms. Their trans- 
verse diameter varies from -5-g-oth to T-sVoth of an inch, being 
usually, however, about -g-5-oth ; while their longitudinal 
diameter is from ^th to ^- th of an inch. The majority of 
the cells are indurated and marked by radiating canals. A 
few non-indurated cells occur irregularly throughout the 
pith, and these contain starch granules. 
The wood-cells have pretty constantly a diameter of — J 0 0 th 
of an inch, and are greatly indurated, the cavity being so 
much reduced in size as to appear, in cross-section, like a 
point. Such a section also shows that the wood-cells are 
divided into irregular four-sided groups ; firstly, by nume- 
rous medullary rays, which vary greatly in thickness — some 
consisting of only one layer of cells, and others of three or 
four; and, secondly, by portions of concentric rings, which 
consist of plates of parenchyma placed at right angles to the 
