The wall of the tube is very thin and delicate, and does not seem to be composed of cellulose or any modification of it.
They are present from the beginning of the development of the cell-wail, and arise from the spindle fibres, all of which may be continued as connecting threads (endosperm of Tamus communis), or part of them may be overlaid by cellulose lamellae (endosperm of Lilium Martagon), or they may be all overlaid as in pollen mother-cells and pollen grains of Helleborus foetidus.
It appears to be synthesized in the plant tissues from carbon dioxide and water, formaldehyde being an intermediate product; or it may be a hydrolytic product of a glucoside or of a polysaccharose, such as cane sugar, starch, cellulose, &c. In the plant it is freely converted into more complex sugars, poly-saccharoses and also proteids.
The smallest empirical formula for cellulose (q.v.) may certainly be written C6H1005.
The constitution of guncotton is a difficult matter to investigate, primarily on account of the very insoluble nature of cellulose itself, and also from the fact that comparatively slight variations in the concentration and temperature of the acids used produce considerable differences in the products.