154 ROMANCE OF LOW LIFE AMONGST PLANTS. 



reddish ciliated points. They do not increase in 

 size, never become coated with a loose membrane,' 

 and have no further power of propagation. Most 

 of them die after they have settled to rest, and dis- 

 solve away ; others turn into little red globules, but 

 it is doubtful if they grow to the normal size. 



The large swarmers of the last active generation, 

 when their growth is completed, and they have 

 attained the stage of rest, instead of dividing again, 

 remained undivided, assume a perfectly globular 

 form, and, in a few days, become covered with a 

 thick, closely applied, cell membrane, while the 

 earlier loose membrane wholly disappears. The 

 contents, which when the resting commenced were 

 green with a little red nucleus, or entirely green, 

 gradually become red again, passing from green 

 through many tints of brown, or brilliant golden- 

 green and golden-brown, into red. These globose 

 thick-coated cells (the same as those with which we 

 began) behave like spores, and pass into a condition 

 of perfect rest. They exhibit no growth, and, after 

 the membrane has attained its proper thickness and 

 the contents their red colour, no perceptible further 

 alteration. 



In order to complete the main features of these 

 alternating generations, it must be noted that, in 

 addition to the active generations (macrogonidia and 

 microgonidia) and the concluding generation, passing 

 into resting spores, there are other generations, which 

 are the proper representatives of the vegetative de- 

 velopment. These are generations endowed with 

 quiet and slow vegetative growth, multiplying by 



