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VEGETABLE STRUCTURE. 63 
firft part to be taken cfF, and we muft begin with the body of the Root, 
becaule this coat is there moft perfedt, and was the original Bark of the 
Seedling Plant, the Fibres and Stalks, with their Bark, having been produ- 
ced from it. 
Fasten a flat piece of cork with fome cement, fuch as Cutlers ufe, to 
the bottom of a white ftone plate j fill the plate with very clean foft 
water, and here begin the reparation. Take one of the pieces out of the 
pan which contains fome of the body of the Root. Wafli the piece clean : 
fplit it down the middle, and lay one of thefe parts, with the fplit part 
upwards, upon the cork in the plate, and fix it with a couple of needles: 
I have fine needles faflened to long handles for this purpofe. Then ex- 
amine the edges with the help of a fmall magnifier, and there will be feen 
fome places where the outer Bark is lefs firmly united to the inner than 
in others; thefe are a kind of openings made by the dilTolution of the 
thickened Juices which had Iain between the two Rinds ; and having been 
feen with the glafs, they will afterwards be more eafily diftinguiflaed by 
the naked eye. Introduce the point of one of the hooked and edged needles 
into one of thofe openings, and then working gently between the two 
Rinds, the outer may be feparated from the inner ; and by purfuing this 
method with pieces from the other pans, we may thus obtain the outer 
Bark of the entire Plant feparated from the other parts. We are not to 
expert that we can get this entire even from the moft favourable pieces ; 
but in how many fragments foever it is got off from the Plant, thefe be- 
ing put together, fhew us its whole courfe ; and thus we know how much 
of the Plant it covers, and in what manner. 
The outer Bark of the Hellebore thus feparated, and laid together 
in form, is reprefented in Plate II. Fig. 24. and thus we fee its whole 
courfe on the Plant. 
The original outer Bark, is properly the covering of- the Root, and 
nothing more. It extends from the extremities of the Fibres a tf, to the 
furface of the ground b ; but toward the top it fuffers fome change. From 
the extremities of the Fibres to the top of the Root, where the Stalks 
rife, it is of the fame uniform texture and colour, thin and brown ; but 
from the crown of the Root upwards, it becomes greenifli, and is fome- 
what thicker, making a kind of fhell for the outermoft defence of the 
Bud b c. Great care mufl: be taken in getting off the Bark from the Root 
juft at the Crown, the part marked c ; for it is very tender, and eafily 
breaks there ; but being taken off with care, we find the greenifh part is. 
abfolutely continuous with the brown, and is its extreme termination. 
The 
