DETAILS RESPECTING THE DEATH OF MR. DOUGLAS. 
229 
Collum, or the neck; others name it rhizoma, or root-stock; or 
fundus plantce. English and German writers call it the life-knot, or 
collet. The stem above the collet is the 
Truncus —that part which elevates and bears the branches, rami, 
and the spray or twigs, called ramuli. When a stem is herbaceous, 
it is called caulis; hence stemmed plants are said to be caulescent; 
and if stems be wanting, they are called acaulis. Woody stems are 
named 
Trunci arborei, and consist of several distinct concentric parts, 
all of which have proper names. The outer one of these is called 
cortex , or bark; the exterior of which is named epidermis ; and the 
inner surface is known by the name of liber. Next, within the liber, 
is the last-formed layer of wood, which is called the alburnum , or 
white wood. This embraces all the internal layers of hard wood, 
lignum , formed in former years. These united form the axis , or 
woody trunk of the tree or shrub ; and when cut across horizontally, 
rays, converging from the bark towards the centre, appear to unite the 
annual layers of wood, and are designated radii corticules. 
In the centre of all is placed the medulla , or pith, composed of 
cellular matter, large, and occupying the greater part of the bulk of 
young shoots, but becoming less and less visible as the age of the tree 
increases. 
Underground stems are called sarmenta , or runners, which at 
joints, nodes , put forth fibres, and send up shoots, slolones. Susculi 
are the stems or branches of mosses; and turiones are the shoots of 
the present year, not yet fully unfolded. 
I shall trouble you with the explanation of a few more terms, the 
first leisure hour I have to spare,—being yours, &c., A. W. 
Farther Details respecting the Death of Mr. Douglas, 
extracted from the Gardeners’ Magazine. —“ The following particulars 
of this most terrific occurrence are taken from the Mirror , for March 
26, 1836. The editor acknowledges having copied it from Ke Kumu 
Hawaii , a mission newspaper, published at Honolulu, Oahu, which 
was lent him by a subscriber to the Mirror. This newspaper is 
printed at the mission press of Oahu, and in the native language of 
the Sandwich Islands, except the paper relating to Mr. Douglas, 
which is in English. It appears that the lamentable event occurred 
on July 12, 1834, six months sooner than was supposed to be the 
case. 
“ The document is dated Hilo, Hawaii, July 15, 1834, and is 
