240 Groom . — On Dischidia rctfflesianci ( Wall?), 
attached to the cell-wall. Owing to their comparatively 
infrequent occurrence (at any rate in my material) I could 
not determine the nature of these bodies ; all of them were 
faintly stained yellow with iodine but refused to stain with 
Hofmann’s blue. Gram’s method for staining Bacteria was 
employed, and results were obtained which at first appeared 
to show that Bacteria were present within these cells (Fig. 8). 
But use of Zeiss’ oil immersion with an Abbe’s condenser, 
disclosed the fact that the peculiar staining effects were only 
produced in ectoplasmic regions : it also showed that the 
rough method of fixing the roots (by immersing the plants 
in methylated spirit) had induced local irregularities and 
aggregations in the protoplasm. Hence it is highly probable 
that the peculiar stained portions were only dense pieces of 
ectoplasm. 
Within the epidermoidal layer lies the rest of the cortex. 
In the attaching-roots this consists solely, or mainly, of thin- 
walled parenchymatous cells which are distinctly smaller on 
the ventral side of the root. Occasionally two or three feeble 
strands of sclerenchyma occur close within the epidermoidal 
layer of the dorsal side. Thus there is a distinct dorsiventral 
structure in the cortex of these roots (Fig. 9). In the pitcher- 
roots, which, for the most part, hang free from the wall of the 
pitcher, the cortex is marked by the presence of strong bands 
of sclerenchyma usually separated from the epidermoidal layer 
by one layer of cells (Figs. 10, 5, 3). The radial symmetry of 
the cortex of the pitcher-roots is but slightly disturbed when 
the root is in contact with the wall of the pitcher, in that 
a band of sclerenchyma appears never to occur immediately 
within the centre of the region of contact. Starch and crystals 
of calcic oxalate are found in the cortical parenchyma. 
Olivier 1 has pointed out that, in aerial roots, the develop- 
ment of cork is precocious ; and D. rafflesiana forms no 
exception to this rule. The cortical layer beneath the epider- 
moidal layer becomes a phellogen, and periderm is formed 
1 Olivier, Reclierches sur 1 ’appareil tegumentaire des racines. Ann. des Sci. 
Nat. 6, xi, 1881. 
