156 Dr. Montagne 07i a second form 



which presented some peculiarities of structure. The frond, in 

 other respects resembhng that of young individuals from the 

 Mediterranean, presented on its upper surface a multitude of 

 granules of a paler tint, which gave to it the appearance of a 

 man's skin affected with a miliary eruption, A thin vertical slice 

 of the frond placed under the microscope showed the central and 

 horizontal layer of quadrilateral cells from whence were given off 

 on one side the root-like threads which form a sort of nap on the 

 lower surface, and on the other the filaments, which at first 

 ascending and oblique, become vertical and terminate on the outer 

 surface which is formed by the intimate adherence of the ulti- 

 mate articulations. In the Cape plant the four or five articula- 

 tions nearest to the surface turn up and form with the others an 

 angle of about 130°, which circumstance presents a certain ana- 

 logy with what takes place in the cylindric fronds of certain Flo- 

 ridece of the tribe Cryptonemea ; analogy, I say, for there is no 

 real resemblance. 



It is amongst the ascending filaments, and not those which 

 have resumed their original vertical direction, that I have ob- 

 served the agglomerations of granules which may be considered 

 as spores. It is these little elevations which give to the frond 

 the appearance of which I have spoken above. They are about 

 the tenth of a millimetre in diameter, and are composed of free 

 oblong granules yfo^hs of a millimetre long, and rather thicker 

 than y^o*^ ^^ ^ millimetre, entire, or divided into two trans- 

 versely ; some appeared to be divided crosswise into four, like true 

 tetraspores, but I cannot affirm this positively. Their more in- 

 tense colour and greater opakeness prevent their being con- 

 founded with the endochromes from which they probably derive 

 their origin, though it is difficult to say how. Supposing then 

 that they are organs destined to multiply the species, it is im- 

 possible not to see that they differ from the normal tetraspores of 

 the Peyssonnelia of our coasts, by their aggregation, their form, 

 their proportionally smaller size, and above all by their position. 



Desiring to re-examine the already well-known fructification, 

 and of which Decaisne, Kiitzing and Zanardini have given good 

 figures, not to mention the more recent analysis of P. Duhji by 

 Mr. Harvey, I placed under the microscope a very thin vertical 

 slice taken from the centre of a nematheciam of a specimen sent 

 from Algiers by Dr. Guyon. What was my astonishment, when 

 instead of seeing what 1 had so often observed, and indeed had 

 just described for the ' Flora of Algiers,' I perceived an entirely 

 different form of fructification ! 



The pustules formed by the nemathecia have just the same di- 

 mensions as those of individuals bearing tetraspores. They are 

 composed of two sets of filaments, the one extremely delicate. 



