148 



to be regarded as the apical cell cannot l)e certainly determined. 



Owing to the writer's departui'e from Java early in June, 

 it was impossible to trace the development of prothallia further. 

 This much, however, is certain — without the infection of the 

 fungus, growth will not proceed beyond the three-celled stage, 

 and apparently no chlorophyll will develop so that the pro- 

 thallium from its earliest stage must be considered to be 

 strictly saprophytic in its nutrition. 



Whether the oval body described is to be considerad as a 

 sort of tubercle, such as is found in Lycopodium cernuum must 

 be decided by further investigations. Lang's descriptions and 

 figures of the smallest specimens which he discovered would 

 indicate that this is not the case in 0. pendulum; but the 

 tuberous body usually found in the older prothallia of 0. 

 molucGanum and 0. peduncuhsum — also in 0. vulgatum - — 

 would indicate that in these species it is quite probable that 

 a primary tubercle is first foruied and subsequently the sexual 

 branch. 



THE ADULT GAMliTOPHYTE. 



The adult gametophyte is known in 0. peduncuhsum (Met- 

 TENius) 0. vulgatum (Bruchmann) and in (). pendulum (Lang). 

 The former species was described by Mettenius just fifty years 

 ago. According to Raciborsky, 0. pedunculosum Desv., is syno- 

 nymous with 0. moluccanum Schlecht., and the close resem- 

 blance between the prothallia of the latter species found by 

 the writer and those desciibcd by Mettenius, make it probable 

 that the specimens collected at Buitenzorg, at least most of 

 them, really belong to 0. moluccanum, although it is quite 

 likely that some of them should be referred to one of the 

 other species which grow associated with the true moluccanum. 

 Mettenius' specimens appeared spontaneously in pots where 

 the plants were cultivated in the Leipzig botanical gardens, 

 and he described accurately the most important points of their 

 structure. He was, however, unable to obtain germination of 

 the spores. 



