Quoting Dawn Luckham <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
LOL! Truth be told, I don't often manage it myself. :P
I try to cut very short, fragmented pieces of fiber (almost like
dicing an onion). Every once in a while one or two pieces of fiber
end up in the right position on the microscope slide to be viewed as
a cross section.
That's probably the easiest -- (mind you, I've never done this with
fiber -- it didn't dawn on me at all to try and have a lookie-see.
*duh* smacks self in forehead)
Linen really doesn't need to be viewed this way to be recognized
though, as the bamboo like characteristics are very recognizable when
viewed as full length fibers. - It'd be great, on the other hand if
I could reliably get a good cross section view for cottons. :o)
And it makes sense, now that I think about it.
<biology mode>
What you have in linen, if I'm not badly mistaken, are the vascular
fibers in the stems. And that (bamboo) is what they should look like.
You may even be able to see the spiral thickenings in the inside of the
tracheids. I'm going to have to do some investigation.
Cotton, on the other hand, is composed of the fibers that surround the
seed. Each individual cotton fiber is a single, elongated cell -- we
call them hairs (for an analogue that you're probably familiar with --
the inside of an orange!). The linen fibers are multicellular.
Of course, I had to go poke around the web, so ...
http://tinyurl.com/86kls
(you have to follow the links to the pictures)
http://tinyurl.com/7uvql
microscope images of various fibers
http://tinyurl.com/8a9xo
from the USDA. unfortunately, I can't find one for linen like this.
http://tinyurl.com/bhvz6
from this page
http://invsee.asu.edu/ImageGallery/Real/LifeSciences/Em/FIBERS/
with micrographs of *lots* of fibers both animal and vegetable.
and for some pretty polarized light micrographs
http://tinyurl.com/d6lvc
Jerusha, the biology geek
-----
Susan Farmer
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
University of Tennessee
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
http://www.goldsword.com/sfarmer/Trillium/
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