562 SUMMAKY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



Makinoa. * —V. Schiffner has had the opportunity of examining 

 afresh the structure of this Japanese genus of Hepaticaa (ilf. crispata). 

 Confirming in the main the descriptions of previous observers (with a 

 few corrections), he makes the following additional observations. The 

 genus possesses amphigasters, composed of short segmented hairs, 

 usually consisting of 5 cells, the terminal one being club-shaped. They 

 are placed in three irregular rows on each side of the mid-rib. The 

 presence of apical elaterophores in the sporogone has also been over- 

 looked. The apex of the sporogone is composed of three or four layers 

 of nearly cubical cells, the inner and superficial of which become the 

 elaterophores, which exhibit no annular or spiral thickenings. The 

 thickening-bands Of the elaters occur only in their central portion, and 

 consist of two intercrossing spirals, which, however, completely coalesce 

 on one side of the elater into an uninterrupted thickening-band. 



With regard to the systematic position of Makinoa, Schiffner places 

 it among the Leptotheceas, from the remaining genera of which it is 

 distinguished by the presence of strongly developed apical elaterophores, 

 by the structure of the elaters, and by the antherids being arranged in 

 a closed inflorescence imbedded in the frond. 



Elaterophores of Calycularia.f — F. Stephani contests the accuracy 

 of the term as applied to the so-called elaterophores of Makinoa and 

 other Hepatica;. He regards them as simply a residue of the tissue 

 which conveys the food-material during the development of the capsule. 

 They are too short to be able to perform the function which has been 

 assigned to them, that of promoting the gradual rather than the sudden 

 escape of the spores. 



Viviparity in a Liverwort. % —Prof. C. Massolongo describes a case 

 of viviparous growth in Lopliocolea Hookeri. In a specimen which 

 came under his observation, the small teeth in one of the leaves were 

 replaced by buds which were differentiated in their upper part into an 

 axial or cauline region furnished with minute leaves and even amphi- 

 gasters, and at the base with more or less elongated rhizoids. 



Characeae. 



Geotropic Curvature of the Roots of Chara. § — K. Giesenhagen 

 has studied this phenomenon especially in Chara fragilis, foetida, and 

 aspera. He finds, in the root-hairs, refractive particles similar to those 

 which have been observed in other geotropic organs, imbedded in the 

 protoplasm. These particles appear to be of a higher specific gravity 

 than the surrounding protoplasm. The movements of these particles 

 have apparently a direct connection with the geotropic movement. 



Algae. 



Ceramothamnion, a New Genus of Florideae.|| — H. M. Richards 

 has found a new red sea-weed on the shores of Bermuda, growing on 



* Oesteir. Bot. Zeitschr., li. (1901) pp. 82-9 (1 pi.). 



t Tom. cit., pp. 256-8. 



X Bull. Soc. Bot. Ital., 1901, pp. 169-72 (2 figs.). 



§ Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Ges., xix. (1901) pp. 277-85 (1 pi.). 



|1 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, xxviii. (1901) pp. 257-65 (2 pis.). 



