Senarmont Compensation for Determining Fibril Angles of Cell Wall Layers

A technique is explained for determining fibril angles of the secondary wall layers of fibers. A polarizing microscope equipped with a Senarmont compensator is used to measure birefringence of the wall layers in a series of sections cut at various angles to the long axis of the cells. Enough measurements are taken on each section to give a representative average. A plot of birefringence against section angle for each layer defines a curve. Fibril angle in the layer is estimated equal to the section angle corresponding to the maximum of this curve.

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