44 On ilit Affinities of ( '>eratophyllacee*. 



of being the only remark- extant which throw an\ light upon 

 the true affinities of Ceratophyllum, have also the misfortune of 

 having been wholly overlooked by succeeding systematic 

 writers. Under these circumstances it is proper to quote thai 

 portion of the observations of M. Brongniart which have a di- 

 rect bearing upon the subject under consideration. They re- 

 late, in part, to a remarkable peculiarity in the developement 

 of the embryo of Ceratophyllum, which is also inferred to 

 occur in the genus Nelumbium. 



" Si on examine l'ovule du ( 'ercUophyUum doin rstnn au mo- 

 ment de la lloiaison, on trouve qu'il est suspendn au sommet 

 de la cavite de l'ovaire, et qu'il est compose d'un seul tegu- 

 ment ouvcrt a Vexlremite opposee a son point d'insertion ; l'a- 

 mande egalement suspendue est formee d'une membrane cel- 

 luleuse, mince, transparente, et se termine par un mamelon 

 court, forme par une sorte de petite couronne de cellules. 

 Dans l'interieur de cctte amande, ou trouve le sac embryon- 

 naire (the tercine of Mirbcl r) qui la remplit en entier ; il est 

 lixe superieurement a la chalaze,"* &e. The passage above 

 quoted suffices to show that M. Brongniart considers the ovule 

 of Ceratophyllum as suspended and orthotropous, and 

 the accompanying figurest so represent it. The author 

 proceeds with an account of the embryo at its first develope- 

 ment, when it appears as a minute green globule, situated, not 

 within the nucule, but outside of it, and merely in contact with 



orifice, from which the slightest force suffices to detach it. 



11 II continue B B'accroitre pendant qiielque temps en adhe- 

 rant legerement b I'extre'mite' <lu m enibryonnaire : mais 

 hr intut il g'en ili igage < 1 b< developpe dans la cavite comprise 

 entrc la membrane de I'amande 1 1 ci sac ; il se dfvise en trois 

 lobe deux lateralis se prolongenl sons form.' de comes 



• Ann. Sciencei Naturelles, 12, p. 261, tt 

 y. m t. 44. 



srq. 



