THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
JUNE,  1881. 
SANGUINAEIA  CANADENSIS. 
By  Frank  L.  Slocum,  Ph.G. 
From  an  Inaugural  Essay. 
The  microscopical  structure  of  the  rhizome  of  Sanguinaria  has  not 
yet,  to  my  knowledge,  been  figured,  and  is  only  briefly  mentioned  by 
De  Bary  in  his  "  Vergleichende  Anatomic,'^  p.  209,  450.    Hence  a 
microscopical  examination  has  been  made. 
Fig.  1  represents  a  cross-section  of  the  rhizome,  showing  the  general 
arrangements  of  the  fibrovascular  bundles  which  are  situated  in  a 
double  circle  three-fourths  of  the  distance  from  the  center  to  the 
exterior. 
Outside  of  the  xyleme  the  parenchyme  is  rather  compressed ;  the 
8  or  10  external  rows  of  cells  are  generally  quite  devoid  of  starch, 
and  contain  a  few  resin  cells,  gg.  The  fibrovascular  bundles  in  the 
outer  circle  are  composed  of  about  12  vessels  each,  shortly  jointed, 
and  their  course  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  trace.  They  are  all  of  one 
class,  namely,  pitted  vessels ;  the  sieve  tubes  are  few,  and  nearly  all 
situated  in  the  outer  portion  of  the  fibrovascular  bundles.  The  fibro- 
vascular bundles  in  the  inner  circle  are  smaller,  the  vessels  are  longer 
and  their  course  is  quite  easily  traced ;  the  sieve  tubes  are  in  the  same 
position  as  in  the  outer  row  of  bundles. 
Inside  of  the  circle  of  fibrovascular  bundles,  and  between  them,  is 
loose  parenchyme,  filled  with  starch ;  the  large  cells,  ee,  containing  the 
red  juice,  are  shown  with  the  juice  dried  and  adhering  to  the  cell 
walls. 
According  to  De  Bary,  (loc,  cit.),  laticiferous  ducts  are  absent  in  the 
Sanguinaria,  having  in  their  place  large  thin-walled  cells,  filled  w^ith 
red  juice.  In  only  one  specimen  out  of  nearly  50  examined  were 
found  spiral  ducts  in  the  rootlets  and  inner  circle  of  the  fibrovascular 
bundles. 
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