302 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANT 



II. A second epoch, based on the researches of Schmitz^ (1883), 

 was devoted more particularly to the detailed examination of the 

 problems connected with the development of the cystocarp, the nature 

 of tlie cell-fusions, and what was, perhaps, reall}' of more consequence — 

 the regrouping of the families and genera in accordance with the 

 nature of the reproductive phenomena in the Life- Cycle, rather than 

 by somatic organization and the external morphology of the adult 

 structures alone, as in the artiticial systems of J. Agardh and Harvey. 

 Although what Schmitz regarded as the essential point of his 

 work — the sexual nature of the cytoplasmic fusion with auxiliary 

 cells, as expressive of a mysterious phenomenon of * double-fertiliza- 

 tion,' — has not stood the test of time, as it did not that of the 

 "tradition" of his day, the 1888 paper contains a neat exposition of 

 the theorj'' of the Florideae as a whole, which gives it a text-book 

 value. The more detailed S3^stematic scheme of Schmitz, left un- 

 finished at his death, is found in the section of the PJlanzenfamilien 

 of Engler and Prantl (Schmitz and Hauptfleisch, 1896), and is the 

 basis of the modern presentation of the group. There can be no 

 doubt that the Florideae acquired a special vogue of mj^stery in virtue 

 of Schmitz's claims of the significance of auxiliary cells in * double 

 fertilization ' ; but with further knowledge of sexual mechanism, 

 deduced from observation of other branches of the vegetable kingdom, 

 at hand, such assumptions are seen to be wholl}' unauthorized, and 

 th(? entire edifice of classification erected on it is left witliout sure 

 foundation. However, the series and orders of Schmitz have now 

 become established and incorporated in botanical literature-, largely 

 through the agenc}^ of the valuable volumes of He Toni, and there is 

 little to be gained by altering them until there may be satisfactory 

 grounds for recasting the entire subject^. On the other hand the 

 attempted phylogenetic arrangement of Schmitz (1889-1897) marks 

 so definite an advance on preceding systems, that all nomenclature 

 may be conveniently checked at the latter date. 



III. In a paper Avhich also attains classical rank Oltmaxns '^ 

 succeeded in demonstrating in a perfectly convincing manner the 

 exact significance of these secondary fusions with auxiliary cells, and 

 traced the mutual relations of the nuclei in the process ; details are 

 described for five well-defined leading types, as Dudresnai/a piir- 



^ Solimitz (Berlin, 1883), TJntersuchungen ilberdie Befrn^htung der Florideen : 

 an English translation is more readily accessible, cf. Dallas (1884) Ann. & Mag. 

 of Nat. Hist. p. 1. 



Friedrich Schmitz, of Greifswald, died 1895, will always be known as the 

 greatest investigator of the Ploridefe, during the latter half of the nineteenth 

 (iontury. He served through the Franco-Prussian war, and was first attracted 

 to sea- weeds while on duty on the coast of Normandy. Most of his material 

 was obtained from Naples, and only those who have a tide-range to forage on 

 can appreciate the handicap of working entirely with preserved material, or on 

 specimens collected by other people. (Carruthers, 1895, Journ. of Bot. p. 115.) 



- Svedelius (1911), Engler and Prantl, Appendix. Floridex. 



•' The ])resent condition of the classification of Flowering Plants on the lines 

 of the Eichler-Engler-Prantl system affords a direct analogy. 



•♦ Oltmanns (Naples, 1898), Bot. Zeit. p. 99. " Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte 

 der 'Flovideen," Morphologie und Biologie der Algen, 1904, p. 689. 



