An inquiry into a new theory of earthy bases of vegetable tissues

Abstract

The author, after briefly noticing the results of some of his expe­riments described in two papers which appeared in the Philosophical Magazine for July and November, 1837, and also those of Mr. Ro­bert Rigg in a paper read to the Royal Society, next adverts to the theory of M. Raspail, detailed in his Tableau Synoptique , and Nouveau Système de Chimie . In opposition to some of the views entertained by the latter, he finds that in the bark of the bamboo and the epidermis of straw the silica incrusting these tissues is not crystallized, but, on the contrary, exhibits, both before and after incineration, the most beautiful and elaborate organization, consisting of an arranged series of cells and tubes, and differing m its character in different species of the same tribe, and in different parts of the same plant. The observations of Mr. Golding Bird, contained in the 14th number of the Magazine of Natural History, New Series, are then referred to; and the author states in confirmation, that, by employ­ing caustic potash, the siliceous columns may be removed from the leaf of a stalk of wheat, while the spiral vessels and ducts, which form the principal ribs of the leaf, as well as the apparently metallic cups which are arranged on its surface, remain undisturbed. He proposes, therefore, to substitute, in the description of vegetable tissues, the term skeleton , instead of that of bases , whether saline or siliceous, of those tissues.