340 T. H. BUFFHAM ON THE FLORIDE^E AND 



gyne dwindles away, and the procarp proceeds onwards in its de- 

 velopment, and becomes the cystocarp — the favella, ceramidium, or 

 other sporiferous fruit of Harvey. I had previously examined 

 many sj3ecies of alga3 without succeeding in getting a good view of 

 the trichogynes and the fertilization, until I found, in Torbay last 

 August, the instructive specimen here described. 



There is no clear proof that the antherozoids are possessed of 

 any power of transporting themselves. As in the flowering plants 

 a large number of pollen-grains are provided, — although only a few 

 are essential to the actual process of fertilization — so in the Flo- 

 rideae it is the immense number of antherozoids which promises 

 clue contact with the trichogyne. Four is the largest number I 

 have observed attached to a single trichogyne in C. tetricum. No 

 doubt the action of the waves is chiefly effectual in securing con- 

 tact, but Prof. Dodel-Port believes the currents made by Vorticella? 

 materially assist in the attainment of this result. If his suggestion 

 is correct it would furnish another interesting example of the in- 

 terdependence of animals and plants in the perpetuation of either. 



While the cystocarps and tetraspores are fully described in the 

 11 Phycologia Britannica," and must be studied before a knowledge 

 of the different species can be gained, it is the antheridia that best 

 repay the microscopist for minute observation. I shall, however, 

 confine my remarks on the present occasion to a description of 

 those species only which are not figured by Harvey, and, as far as 

 I know, have not been observed on British alga3 before. Unless 

 otherwise stated they were found in Torbay in Aug. 1883. 



In Aug., 1881, my friend Mr. W. H. Gilburt, and I were collect- 

 ing together near Teignmouth, S. Devon, when he found Callitham- 

 tiion tetricum with antheridia. It has already been mentioned that 

 these fruits occupy in this genus a similar position to that of the 

 tetraspores. The latter fruit is on the inner sides of short lateral 

 ramuli on the pinna?. In the specimen taken, as above, the an- 

 theridia appeared to be almost terminal. I took this fruit in August 

 last in Torbay, and, comparing them with the others, I am led to 

 think the Teignmouth antheridia were older and had lost portions 

 of the antherozoids. In the Torbay specimens (see Fig. 3, as shown 

 with \ inch x 200) the principal portion is on the inner face of 

 the ramulus, but it surrounds the ramulus so that a part is seen 

 on the outer side. Note how by the growth of the antheridium the 

 ramulus is bent down. 



