Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  i 
November,  1901.  J 
Fruit  of  Cocos  Nucifera. 
543 
(c)  Soft  ground  tissue. — The  thin-walled  parenchyma  cells  of  the 
soft  ground  tissue  are  in  some  parts  isodiametric,  in  other  parts 
longitudinally  elongated,  and  in  still  other  parts  transversely- 
tangentially  elongated  {Fig.  8,  w).  Wherever  the  brown  liquid 
previously  referred  to  has  penetrated  the  inner  layers  of  the  meso- 
carp,  groups  of  the  parenchyma  cells  here  and  there,  being  impreg- 
nated with  this  material,  are  of  a  rich  brown  color  and  appear 
thicker-walled  than  the  others  (Fig.  8,  br.).  This  brown  substance 
is  quickly  changed  to  a  reddish  color  by  caustic  potash,  but  is  not 
affected  by  alcohol,  ether  or  the  specific  reagents  for  proteids,  fats 
and  resins.  No  immediate  effect  is  produced  by  ferric  chloride 
solution,  but  on  long  standing  the  color  is  changed  to  olive  green. 
Fig.  5.  Transverse  section  of  a  large  flattened  (mesocarp)  fiber  of  the 
cocoanut.  ste,  stegmata  ;  f,  sheath  of  bast  fibers  ;  pk,  two  phloem  groups  ;  xr, 
xylem  ;  p,  parenchyma  of  ground  tissue  ;  a,  rudimentary  bundle  belonging  to 
small  branch.    X  9°- 
(d)  Fibers  {Coir).— These  are  fibro-vascular  bundles  with  a 
strongly  developed  sheath  of  bast-fibers.  Toward  the  xylem  side 
of  the  bundle,  particularly  in  the  large  fibers,  the  sheath  usually 
diminishes  in  thickness  and  the  vascular  portion,  as  seen  in  cross 
section,  is  more  or  less  eccentric,  surrounded  by  a  crescent-shaped 
sheath  with  the  horns  connected  by  a  narrower  strip. 
In  the  smaller  fibers  there  is  but  one  group  of  phloem  elements, 
but  in  the  larger  flattened  fibers  there  are  usually  two,  or  occa- 
