228   ADULTERATION  OF  SAFFRON  WITH  STAMENS  OF  CROCUS. 
from  the  shape  and  color  of  the  filamentous  portions,  that  they 
were  genuine  saffron,  but  the  question  now  arose  as  to  the  na- 
ture of  the  other  and  greater  portion  of  the  mass.  To  deter- 
mine this,  I  at  first  examined  some  of  the  separated  pieces  of 
the  mass  with  a  magnifying  glass,  and  satisfied  myself  directly 
that  they  were  not  the  florets  or  petals  of  any  of  the  plants 
which  had  been  hitherto  alluded  to  as  having  been  employed 
to  adulterate  saffron ;  neither  were  they  the  similar  parts  of  any 
other  plants,  nor  any  substances  hitherto  described  as  adulter- 
ants of  saffron ;  but,  instead  of  any  of  these,  I  found  bodies  of 
a  pale  yellow  color,  half  an  inch  or  more  in  length,  attached 
below  to  a  firmer  and  nearly  cylindrical  stalk  (Fig.  1,  p.  225,) 
which  latter  was  also,  in  some  cases,  adherent  to  a  flattened  por- 
tion of  a  petal  or  a  tubular  body.  I  also  found  a  few  larger 
pieces  of  the  colored  divisions  of  the  perianth  intermixed  with 
the  above.  I  concluded  that  the  bodies  under  examination 
must  be  stamens,  but  in  order  to  satisfy  myself  more  complete- 
ly on  this  point,  I  took  a  few  of  them  on  the  end  of  a  glass  rod, 
and  diffused  them  in  a  glass  of  cold  water  ;  that  they  were  then 
the  stamens  of  a  Crocus  there  could  be  no  doubt,  for  I  had  be- 
fore me  open  cellular  bodies  half  an  inch  or  more  in  length, 
with  a  somewhat  pointed  apex  and  an  arrow-shaped  base  (Fig. 
1,  p.  225.)  Each  of  these  was  also  seen  to  be  attached  below  to 
a  solid  nearly  cylindrical  thread-like  shorter  stalk ;  and  this 
latter  was,  in  some  instances,  also  adherent  to  a  portion  of  a 
petal.  Upon  more  complete  examination  in  the  same  way,  I 
found  that  some  of  the  separated  pieces  were  two  or  more 
inches  in  length,  and  consisted  of  a  tubular  portion  below,  from 
the  inside  of  which  there  arose  above  three  filaments,  bearing  at 
their  extremities  arrow-shaped  (sagittate)  anthers  (Fig.  3,  p. 
225 ;)  in  fact,  here  was  the  tubular  portion  of  the  flower  of  a 
Crocus,  with  the  three  stamens  found  in  it  as  in  all  the  other 
plants  of  the  Natural  Order  to  which  it  belonged,  attached.  I 
could  also  readily  make  out  by  the  unassisted  eye,  although 
still  better  by  the  aid  of  a  small  magnifier,  the  mode  of  attach- 
ment of  the  anthers  to  the  filaments,  and  the  manner  in  which 
they  had  dehisced.  As  the  number  of  stamens  and  the  attach- 
ment and  dehiscence  of  the  anthers  is  very  marked  in  the  order 
