Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
November,  1901. 
Ffuit  of  Cocos  Nitcifera. 
545 
thus  bringing  the  cell  cavity  near  the  outer  sufrace.  Inclosed  in 
each  cell  and  filling  it  almost  completely,  is  a  silicious  body,  from 
•006  to  -OI2  m.m,  in  diameter,  with  wart-like  protuberances  on  the 
surface  which  fit  into  corresponding  depressions  in  the  cell  walls 
(Fig.  7).  That  they  are  composed  of  silica  is  demonstrated  by 
their  incombustibility,  their  insolubility  in  hydrochloric  and  nitric 
acids  and  their  complete  solubility  in  hydrofluoric  acid.  Their 
appearance  is  particularly  striking  in  tangential  sections  which 
have  been  heated  on  a  cover  glass  until  thoroughly  carbonized  and 
finally  treated  with  hydrochloric  acid  on  the  slide.    The  heating 
FiG.  6.  Longitudinal  section  of  a  large  (mesocarp)  fiber  of  the  cocoanut. 
ste,  stegmata  ;  Si,  silicious  body  ;  f,  bast  fibers  ;  t,  tracheids  with  small  pits  ;  t', 
tracheids  with  large  pits  ;  sp,  spiral  trachea  ;  r,  reticulated  trachea  ;  sc,  scalari- 
form  trachea  ;  s,  sieve  tube  ;  c  and  c\  cambiform  cells.    X  3°°- 
should  be  performed  at  dull  redness,  since  at  a  higher  temperature 
the  bodies  lose  their  characteristic  appearance. 
Wiesner 1  refers  to  these  stegmata  as 
"  bast  parenchyma,"  and  from  his  descrip- 
tion it  would  appear  that  he  considered 
them  silicifled  cells  and  did  not  under- 
stand that  they  are  sclerenchymatized  cells 
with  silicious  contents.  Von  Hoehnel,2 
who  uses,  however,  the  term  "  steg- 
mata," also  appears  to  have  fallen  into  the  same  error. 
Fig.  7.  Silicious  bodies 
from  the  stegmata  of  cocoa- 
nut  fiber.    X  1500. 
1  Loc.  cit,  pp.  436-438. 
a  Loc.  cit.,  p.  52. 
