Common objects of the microscopeWood, J. G. (John George)
Science
Common objects of the microscope
Wood, J. G. (John George)
Microscopes; Microscopy
In certain loosely made tissues, such as are found in the rushes and
similar plants, the walls of the cells grow very irregularly, so
that they push out a number of arms which meet each other in every
direction, and assume the peculiar form which is termed “stellate,”
or star-shaped tissue. Fig. 3 shows a specimen of stellate tissue
taken from the seed-coat of the privet, and rather deeply coloured,
exhibiting clearly the beautiful manner in which the arms of the
various stars meet each other. A smaller group of stellate cells taken
from the stem of a large rush, and exemplifying the peculiarities of
the structure, are seen in Fig. 4.
The reader will at once see that this mode of formation leaves a vast
number of interstices, and gives great strength with little expenditure
of material. In water-plants, such as the reeds, this property is
extremely valuable, as they must be greatly lighter than the water in
which they live, and at the same time must be endowed with considerable
strength in order to resist its pressure.
A less marked example of stellate tissue is given in Fig. 11, where
the cells are extremely irregular, in their form, and do not coalesce
throughout. This specimen is taken from the pithy part of a bulrush.
There are very many other plants from which the stellate cells may be
obtained, among which the orange affords very good examples, in the
so-called “white” that lies under the yellow rind, a section of which
may be made with a very sharp razor, and placed in the field of the
microscope.
Looking toward the bottom of the Plate, and referring to Fig. 27, the
reader will observe a series of nine elongated cells, placed end to
end, and dotted profusely with chlorophyll. These are obtained from
the stalk of the common chickweed. Another example of the elongated
cell is seen in Fig. 14, which is a magnified representation of the
rootlets of wheat. Here the cells will be seen set end to end, and each
containing its nucleus. On the left hand of the rootlet (Fig. 13) is a
group of cells taken from the lowest part of the stem of a wheat plant
which had been watered with a solution of carmine, and had taken up a
considerable amount of the colouring substance. Many experiments on
this subject were made by the Rev. Lord S. G. Osborne, and may be seen
at full length in the pages of the _Microscopical Journal_, the subject
being too large to receive proper treatment in the very limited space
which can here be given to it. It must be added that later researches
have caused the results here described to be gravely disputed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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