April, iflio.] THE GERMINATION AND DEVELOPMENT. 91 



macrogametes from the gametangium. (Plate 1, fig. 9-10). 



The macrogametes are reniform with one end narrower 

 than the other. At a point a little nearer to the narrower end 

 than the middle of the concave side there are seen two flagella 

 attached. Both are about three times as long as the gamete 

 and one points obliquely forward and the other backward 

 along the side. The gametes are actively moving in the game- 

 tangium and when they are liberated from it, they swim about 

 with a considerable speed. (Plate 1, fig. 10). 



I could not actually observe the flagella in the micro- 

 gametes. But from their active motion in the water, I am in- 

 clined to believe their presence as in the macrogametes. 



There were diverse opinions regarding the systematic posi- 

 tion of Bangiaceae. Schmitz^^ put a great stress on the struc- 

 ture of frond and the mode of reproduction as found in the 

 family, and chose to place it sharply separated from the rest 

 of the red algae. J. Agardh^' held the view that the family 

 will be compared with TJlvaceae. Johnson^^ is in the attitude 

 of discounting the systematic value of the characters pointed 

 out by ScHMiTZ as the ground of his arrangement. The differ- 

 ence of the structure of frond and that of the fertilizing process 

 of the sexual elements between Bangiaceae and the other Floridae, 

 appear to me, a question of degree of complexity. 



The formation of motile spores, whether they may be 

 gametes or zoospores, in a red alga, was an entirely unexpect- 

 ed phenomenon. The occurrence of the heterogaraetes in For- 

 phyra will suggest a new support to those who are inclined to 

 treat Bangiaceae as a special group of, or as less related to, 

 the red algae. How, then, the carpospore formation shall be 

 interpreted ? How the carpospores of the Eufloridae will be- 

 have after they have been liberated from the cystocarps ? We 

 are not yet in a position to settle these questions. 



As above stated, I have had a least doubt about 

 the sporelings found in nature late in autumn, to have been 



1) ScronTZ : Kleinere Beitrage zur Kenntniss der Florideen. II. 



2) .T. Agardh: Bidrng Till Algernes SyFteiiiatik. VI. Ulvaoae. 



3) Johnson: The Systematic Position of the Bangiaceae. (La Nonva Notarisia. 

 Serie 5, p. 63r., 1894). 



