388 Notes. 
Text-books make no mention of globoids in . these aleurone-grains 
of grass-seeds. 
Haberlandt 1 casually figures globoids as occurring in the aleurone- 
grains in this layer in the seed of the oat, whereas Brown and Morris 2 
neither mention nor figure globoids in the aleurone-grains of these 
cells in the barley-seed. 
The present investigations lead to the result that the cells composing 
the aleurone-layer contain a rich stock of oil in the protoplasmic 
network, whilst in the meshes of the protoplasm are numerous 
aleurone-grains which form the greatest portion of the cell-contents. 
But in most cases the aleurone-grains consist chiefly of globoids 
with only envelopes of proteid matter. In such a case a typical 
aleurone-grain is roughly spherical, and comprises a small proteid 
shell encasing a large central globoid. Hence it is often the case 
that the aleurone-layer is notably a receptacle for phosphates, as 
Professor Vines suggested.. As regards the function of the layer 
I made no observations. The following methods were adopted and 
in typical cases gave the following results. 
(i) Sections, cut from dry seeds , were placed in 50 per cent, solution 
of alkannin, and after a time were mounted in dilute glycerine. The 
whole aleurone-layer was stained red. The cells were seen to contain 
red globules, or even a red network in the meshes of which lay 
unstained grains. Other tests for oil confirmed these results 3 . 
(ii) Sections were cut by the aid of a razor moistened with absolute 
alcohol. They were then dropped straight into absolute alcohol , and 
left for periods varying from a few seconds to some hours. In most 
cases, however, only a short time elapsed before they were removed. 
They were then transferred into benzole , turpentine , xylol, or a mixture 
of ether and absolute alcohol. The oil was thus removed, and the 
sections were once more conveyed into absolute alcohol. 
Examined at this stage the cells appear filled, in a typical case, 
with many minute ring-like bodies (really spheres) — the aleurone- 
grains — embedded in a network of protoplasm. 
These sections were then treated in three different manners. 
(a) Stained with iodine or proteid-staining dyes , the protoplasm 
1 Haberlandt; Ber. d. deutsch. bot. Ges., vol. 8. 
2 Horace Brown and Morris; Journ. Chem. Soc., 1890. 
3 Black colour with osmic acid ; insolubility in sulphuric acid ; solubility in ether 
and alcohol, turpentine, &c. 
