and Laboratory Methods. 2057 



CURRENT BOTANICAL LITERATURE. 



CHARLES J. CHAMBERLAIN, University of Chicago. 



Books for Review and Separates of Papers on Botanical Subjects should be Sent to Charles J. 

 Chamberlain, University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. 



Ikeda. T. Studies in the Physiological Func- ^he results of investigations on Tri- 

 tions of Antipodals and Related Phenomena ° 



of Fertilization in Liliaceae. Bull, of College cyrtis hirta Hook., native in Japan, are 



of Agric. Tokyo Imp. Univ. 5: 41-72, pis. recorded in this paper. Besides obser- 

 3-4, 1902. . . ^ '^ 



vations on microtome sections prepared 



in the usual way, micro-chemical reactions were tested on free hand sections from 



fresh materials. The archesporial cell becomes the megaspore-mother-cell 



directly without a previous division into a primary wall cell and primary sporo- 



genous cell. The mother cell gives rise to four megaspores, of which the one 



nearest the chalaza is functional. In the first division of the mother cell the 



chromatin forms tetrads strongly resembling those of such forms as Grylloialpa, 



as described by zoologists. Double fertilization was observed. The endosperm 



does not form a parietal layer, but the nuclei are evenly distributed throughout 



the sac. A considerable amount of endosperm is formed before the division of 



the fertilized egg, one of the figures showing twenty nuclei in a single section. 



The chief interest in the paper lies in the micro-chemical investigation. In 

 early stages no starch is found in the ovule, but as development proceeds, starch 

 appears in the funiculus and outer integument and the outer and inner surfaces 

 of the inner integument become cutinized except in the micropylar region. 

 Starch then appears in the inner integument, though not so abundantly, and 

 dextrine can be detected in the antipodal end of the sac. Just before the fusion 

 of the polar nuclei, dextrine is evident in the micropylar portion of the inner 

 integument and also in the antipodals and ^gg apparatus, while the starch has 

 disappeared from the inner integument and appeared in the nucellus. After fer- 

 tilization, the dextrine disappears from the integument and is present only in the 

 fertilized egg and starch has almost entirely disappeared from the integuments 

 and is scanty in the funiculus ; but after a few divisions of the embryo, starch 

 becomes abundant in the integuments and in the endosperm. The chalaza and 

 conducting region have a soluble carbohydrate instead of starch. 



Micro-chemical tests, together with the cytological features of the antipodal 

 cells and the anatomical structure of the neighboring tissues, lead to the conclu- 

 sion that in Tricyrtis the antipodals are the center of absorption of raw materials, 

 their elaboration into the proper form and the means of transmission of food to 

 the proper place. The dextrine in the micropylar portion of the integument is 

 believed to serve for the nutrition of the pollen tube, while that in the egg supplies 

 the embryo during its early stages. The cutinization of the inner integument 

 makes it necessary for most food material from the exterior to pass through the 

 antipodals. c. j. c. 



Schniewind-Thies, J. Die Reduction der Chro- Liliaceous forms, especially GaIto?iia 

 mosomenzahl und die ihr folgenden Kern- n-< r- 



theilungen in den Embryosackmutterzellen candicans, Salla sibtnca and lulipa 



derAngiospermen. 8vo,pp. 34, pis. 5. Jena, (7^j«^r/a««, were selected for this^work. 



Gustav Fischer, 1901. 



The reduction division in the mega- 



