Journal of Applied Microscopy. 273 



CURRENT BOTANICAL LITERATURE. 



Charles J. Chamberlain. 



Books for review and separates of papers on botanical subjects should be sent to 



Charles J. Chamberlain, University of Chicago, 



Chicago, 111. 



REVIEWS. 



., ,.. c TVT T> , 1. -1- At a recent botanical cono^ress in Kiew, 



Nawaschin, S. Neuez Beobachtungen uber , ° 



Befruchtung bei Fritillaria tenella und Lil- RuSsia, Prof. Nawaschin made SOme 



uunMartagon. Bot. centralbl. 77 : 62,1899. rather sensational remarks concerning 



fertilization in FritiHaria and LUiiun. He claims that in the development of 



the Qg^ apparatus a genuine cellulose membrane is formed around the synergids 



and the egg, but that this membrane is resorbed before the entrance of the male 



sex cells into the embryo-sac. He thinks that the male cells are motile. Both 



male cells enter the embryo-sac, one of them then pressing into the egg while 



the other fuses with the nearest polar nucleus. This fusion nucleus then unites 



with the other polar nucleus, so that the primary endosperm nucleus is formed 



by the fusion of three nuclei. It is hard to see any significance in such a 



fusion, and considerable confirmatory evidence would be needed to support 



the observations. c. j. c. 



This paper is of special interest as a 

 Davis, Bradley Moore. Kerntheilung in der 1 r ^i i^ ^ r\ ■ 



Sporenmutterzellen bei Corallina officinalis record of the first successful mvestlga- 

 L. var. mediterranea. Ber. d. deutsch. bot. tion of the karyology of one of the 

 Gesell. 16: 266-272,1898. „, ., , 



rlondece. When the nucleus of the 



tetraspore mother cell is yet in the resting condition, it is surrounded by a layer 

 of denser cytoplasm, but no centrospheres are recognizable. Previous to 

 division the nucleus elongates ; meanwhile there appears at each of its ends a 

 considerable aggregation of thick protoplasm, which becomes more and more 

 dense until it may be resolved into a centrosphere and a surrounding mass of 

 kinoplasm. In a later stage the latter is transformed into a collection of 

 radiating threads. The centrosphere when fully differentiated is a quite large 

 homogeneous body, a distinct centrosome being at no time present. When 

 division is completed the centrospheres and astral radiations are gradually 

 transformed again into an irregular kinoplasmic mass. The author accordingly 

 concludes that in Corallina the centrosphere is not a permanent cell-organ, 

 but arises de novo from the cytoplasm in the early phases of karyokinesis. 

 Another interesting feature is the apparent want of a lining network. Hence 

 the chromatin appears in the resting nucleus in the form of irregularly scattered 

 granules. In the formation of the daughter nuclei the chromatin is fused 

 into a globular mass, distinguishable from the nucleolus only by suitable stain- 

 ing. In older nuclei the chromatinsphere breaks up into the scattered granules 

 already mentioned. Wilson R. Smith, Chicago. 



rn_,_h„ii n H r^ .1 ^ ^ A A y The Anthocerotaceae, as is well known, 



Campbell, U. n. On the structure and develop- _ ' 



ment of Dendroceros, Nees. Linn. Journ. consist of three genera, Anthoceros , 



Botany, il : 467-478. pi. 2 1 and 22, 1898. M?fol/iy/as, and Bcndroa-ros. The first 



two genera, occurring in temperate zones and so within easy reach of botanists, 



