26 Art. 5,— y. Todji: 



VIII. Germination of the Spore and the Formation of 

 the Protonema. 



We already know that with regard to the duration of the 

 germination of the spore there are two kinds of moss, one, whose 

 spore takes from two to six months to germinate, and one, 

 whose spore germinates in a few days after it comes out of the 

 sporangium (C. Sekvettaz.). Schistostega belongs to the former 

 kind, its spores germinating in a month after their dispersal 

 from the sporangium. The spares that I sowed on earthen plates 

 in my hot-house (16° — 25°C.) on the 26th of KSeptember almost 

 all began to germinate on the 26th of October. The first filament 

 which issued from the spore had a cylindrical form (Fig's. 12 

 and 13, drawn Nov. 30), and grew by the division of the 

 terminal cell. When this filament consists of two or three cells, 

 a spherical cell is produced from the terminal cell (Fig's. 14 and 

 15, drawn Jan. 30). Many spherical cells of the same form are 

 produced in a row by budding (Fig. 16, drawn Feb. 13). These 

 spherical cells begin to ramify, producing filaments or cells like 

 themselves (Fig. 18, drawn Mar. 3). It is by this process of 

 ramification that the surface of the substratum is covered with 

 filaments and groups of spherical cells. 



At times, groups of cells of the shape of a tadpole and con- 

 taining many chlorophyll grains are to be found. Some of them 

 are seen separated from the filamentous cells, which, I suppose, can 

 make an independent growth by their own division (Fig. 22). 



