1462 Journal of Applied Microscopy 



In the present paper, Chodat and Bernard give the results of their work on 

 Helosis guayanensis. The archesporial cell becomes the megaspore directly 

 without cutting off a tapetal cell or giving rise to a row of potential megaspores. 

 The jacket or " tapetum " surrounding the embryo-sac is sporogenous tissue. 

 The two daughter nuclei resulting from the first division of the nucleus of the 

 megaspore are quite different in appearance, the one at the upper end of the sac 

 staining much more deeply. This nucleus gives rise to the egg, two synergids 

 and a polar nucleus in the usual manner. The other nucleus stains faintly and 

 rarely divides at all, but soon degenerates, so that no antipodals or polar nucleus 

 are formed. According to Van Tieghem the &gg is fertilized in Helosis and 

 Balanopho7-a. The present writers find that in Helosis the ^gg becomes large, 

 but also becomes weak and feeble in appearance, so that, while they were not able 

 to prove or disprove the occurrence of fertilization, they believe that the feeble 

 condition of the egg, together with the position of the embryo in the endosperm, 

 favor Treub's view that the embryo arises apogamously from the endosperm. 



C.J. c. 



CYTOLOGY, EMBRYOLOGY, 



AND • 



MICROSCOPICAL METHODS. 



Agnes M. Claypole, Cornell University. 



Separates of papers and books on animal biology should be sent for review to 



Agnes M. Claypole, 125 N. Marengo avenue, 



Pasadena, Cal. 



CURRENT LITERATURE. 



Hoffman. Die Rolle des Eisenbei der Blutbil- ^he efforts of the author were directed 

 dung. Zugleich ein Beitrag zur Kentniss 



des Wesens der Chlorose. Virchow's Arch., to the investigation of the SO-called 

 160: 235-306, 1900. blood forming organs, and were laid in 



the following lines : Enumeration of the blood corpuscles ; determination of the 

 hemaglobin ; tracing the mjlnner in which the metal is taken into the organism ; 

 the effect of different preparations ; the effect in healthy and anaemic animals, 

 etc. Ninety-eight rabbits in all were used in the investigation. To determine 

 whether the entrance of the metal into the so-called blood forming organs could 

 be proved, the bone marrow, spleen, and the mesenteric lymph glands were 

 examined for their contained iron. The liver and kidneys were usually similarly 

 tested. The bone marrow was taken out as entire columns of ^-1 cm., depend 

 ing on the size of the animal, from the humerus, radius, femur, and tibia, and 

 put, as were the other tissues, into 70 percent, alcohol to which 5 per cent, solu- 

 tion of ammonium sulphide was added, then after 24 hours into absolute alcohol 

 plus a few drops of sulphide. In all animals containing iron the marrow became 

 after one-half or more hours, of a gray black, then of a distinct green color. This 

 was especially clear to the eye if the tissues were compared with some from an 

 animal not containing iron. Since, for the most part, parallel investigations were 

 made on both iron and non-iron fed animals, it was easy to determine macro- 



