VASCULARES. 
examined in search of them. Neither are they 
to be found in the branch or stem of woody 
plants, except in the annual shoot; nor in the 
pith of any plant, except in the several species 
of nepenthes. But in the stem and branches of 
herbaceous plants, they are generally to be found 
without much difficulty, accompanying the longi- 
tudinal fibres, and forming part of the bundles. 
They are very easily detected in the foot-stalk, 
whether of the leaf or flower. They are disco- 
verable also in the leaf itself; though rarely in 
the calyx and corolla; and more rarely still in 
the other parts of the flower. Grew and Mal- 
pighi found them both in fruits and seeds. I 
have myself met with them in the external um- 
bilical cord of the seed of the cherry, at a very 
early period of its growth,—that is, about the 
time of the falling of its petals,—but not in any 
other fruits. In the leaf or leaf-stalk of the ar- 
tichoke, the spirals are not only remarkably 
large, but also remarkably beautiful, exhibiting 
the appearance of spiral coats investing interior 
fibres, rather than that of a distinct and indivi- 
dual tube, and seeming, when uncoiled, to be 
themselves formed of a net-like film, consisting 
of three principal and longitudinal stripes. At 
present, we find that the botanical adepts are 
divided on this subject, one party contending 
that the spires are external to the tubes as they 
appeared in the case just stated; and the other 
party contending that the spires are, on the con- 
trary, internal, forming a lining to the tubes, 
and not a coating. Dr. Brown espouses the for- 
mer opinion, and Professor Henslow espouses 
the latter. Is it certain that the organs now 
under consideration are tubes? In the closely 
coiled up state in which they exist in the grow- 
ing plant, they might be said to constitute tubes 
by the union of their spires. Divide a leaf-stalk 
of the artichoke or of the elder longitudinally, 
cutting it partly, and tearing it partly asunder, 
and place a portion of it under the microscope. 
Inspect the exposed surface of it carefully and 
in a strong light, and it will present to your view 
bundles of spirals in their coiled up and united 
state. Divide a portion of the same leaf-stalk 
transversely, cutting it partly, and breaking it 
partly asunder. Place it under the microscope 
in a clear and strong light, and multitudes of 
spirals, not yet divided, but merely drawn out, 
and partly uncoiled, will be found to connect the 
fractured surfaces; and if you stretch them even 
till they give way, the fragments will, as if by an 
elastic and inherent spring, coil themselves up 
again, nearly as before; yet the prevailing opi- 
nion seems to be that the spire does not in any 
case constitute a tube, but forms merely a coat- 
ing or lining to a tube within it or without it. 
—Much has been said with regard to their func- 
tions. Malpighi regarded them as destined to 
the transmission of air. Grew thought they 
transmitted, not only air, but sap. Mirbel re- 
gards them as being well fitted for the transmis- 
VEGETABLE. 09 
sion of the ascending sap. Mr. Knight thinks 
they are altogether incapable of transmitting 
moisture. Yet Hedwig and Senebier concurred 
in affirming that a fluid may be seen issuing 
from their orifices, if the horizontal section of a 
stem is inspected immediately after its division. 
Hence they are doubtless capable of conducting 
a fluid, whether it be the ascending sap or not. 
The latest hypothesis with regard to their func- 
tion is that of M. Dutrochet. He shows that 
they cannot be the channel of the sap’s ascent, 
because they do not exist either in the root or 
stem, except as aforesaid,—that is, in the annual 
shoot. He shows also that they contain a fluid 
sut generis,—that is, a diaphanous fluid, which 
is neither air nor sap. He infers that their 
function is in accordance with that of the leaves, 
because it is in the leaves that they occur in the 
greatest abundance. But leaves are vegetable 
lungs, and as animals receive a vivifying in- 
fluence from oxygen in the lungs, so plants, 
through means of the leaves, receive a vivifying 
influence from the light of the sun, either direct- 
ly or in combination with the fluids they con- 
tain; which influence the spirals or trachee 
convey to the interior, and are hence to be re- 
garded as organs of insolation.” 
VASCULAR ORGANS. See Vascunarss. 
VAT. A large vessel for holding any ferment- 
ed alcoholic liquor, such as wine, ale, beer, 
cyder, or perry, during the process of its pre- 
paration. 
VATERIA. See Tattow (Piney.) 
VAUANTHES. An ornamental, Cape-of-Good- 
Hope, yellow-flowered, annual plant, of the cras- 
sulaceous order. It was called by Linneus Cras- 
sula dichotoma,; but it now constitutes a genus 
of itself, with the specific name of chloreflora. It 
has a height of about 6 inches; and is only half- 
hardy. 
VEAL. The meat or well-fed carcase of a 
calf. See the articles Can and Muar. The fillet 
of a cow-calf, under any ordinary conditions of 
breed and age and feeding and aggregate fitness 
for the market, is less firm in the groin and 
more curdled in the fat than that of a bull-calf; 
and is therefore generally preferred to it. Ifa 
shoulder of veal have not a bright red colour in 
the vein, it is stale; and if it have any green or 
yellow spots, it is totally unfit for use. The neck 
and breast, if white and dry, are good; but, if 
clammy, and greenish or yellowish at the upper 
end, they are bad. The loin generally taints 
first under the kidney; and whenever it becomes 
soft and slimy, it is stale. If the leg be white 
and firm, it is good; but if it be flabby, and 
show any greenish or yellowish specks, it is bad. 
VEGETABLE. A plant. See the articles 
Priant and VucetaBLe PuysioLoey. 
But the word vegetables, in the plural num- 
ber, is popularly used as the proper aggregate 
designation of culinary plants, or of such as are 
cultivated in the kitchen garden. The chief of 
