490 Mr. VALENTINE on the Structure and Development 
but at last they contain a little grumous matter. What becomes of the mother- 
cell I am unable to say: I am inclined to think that a portion of it becomes 
attached to the surface of each of the sporules, of which there are about forty 
in each sac. 
The other bodies, or rather those which occupy the sacs at the lower part 
of the involucrum,—for there is no difference between the two at the earliest 
stage, except in position, —should have been described first, on account of their 
being somewhat more advanced in point of development; but as the changes 
are rather more complex than those just described, I prefer taking them in 
this order. The sporules (TAB. XXXV. fig. 31 & 32.) first enlarge, become 
pellucid, and recede from each other just as the last-described (Tak. XXXV. 
fig. 33.), but they do not appear to remain long in this stage, as it is very dif- 
ficult to obtain them until nearly all the sporules have been ruptured from 
some unknown cause (Tas. XXXV. fig. 38). The shrivelled remains of the 
ruptured sporules continue to be attached to each other by their stalks, and 
the mother-cell remains perfect; in short, no further change takes place, for 
they may be found in this state in the same sac with the ripe sporules 
(Tas. XXXV. fig. 42, d.). The two or three unruptured sporules, which are 
single in each union, the other three being invariably ruptured (Tas, XXXV. 
fig. 37.), enlarge, each struggling for the mastery, and it is not long before 
one prevails, the smaller ones rupturing and passing into the same state as 
those first ruptured (Tas. XXXV. fig.38.). The sole remaining sporule now 
enlarges rapidly, assumes a pyriform shape, and the mother-cell gradually 
recedes from it by a still more rapid enlargement, except around the narrow 
extremity to which the three ruptured sporules which form the union are 
attached, where the mother-cell has contracted an adhesion. It appears that 
this dilatation of the mother-cell is caused by a secretion of fluid between it 
and the sporule, for if the cell be punctured the fluid will escape, and the cell 
return by its elasticity to the same dimensions as the sporule. The three rup- 
tured sporules, which up to this period remained attached to the growing 
sporule, now disappear, and, as I have not been able to make an exact obser- 
vation as to the manner of their disappearance, I cannot say positively whether 
they have been absorbed or discharged through a rupture of the mother-cell. 
That this last supposition is the correct one, I think may be inferred from the 
