88 



PLANT-LIFE 



to their destination, it is certainly advantageous to the 

 plant to have a device which will stay them in their 

 drifting. The wall of the trichogyne is gelatinous, 

 consequently a drifting spermatium coming in contact 

 with it adheres (Fig. 31, s). The trichogyne is also 

 receptive, and at the point where 

 the spermatium adheres the cell- 

 walls of both the former and the 

 latter are absorbed, and the con- 

 tents of the male cell pass into 

 the female. Thus fertilization takes 

 place. The first result of this vital 

 act is a remarkable development 

 of the carpogonium. It produces 

 branches and establishes connections 

 with the auxiliary cells, its con- 

 tents uniting with them. Thus, the 

 effects of the fertilization are passed 

 on to these cells. The auxiliary cells 

 divide, and the ultimate result of 

 Fig. 31.— Portion of fertilization is the formation of a 



Branch of Female p .. ■■ -, • •-, 



Plant of Cautham- spore-fruit enclosed in a mucilaginous 

 nion corymbosum envelope. This fruit consists of a 



pi E um ING x A 250 PROCAR " maSS ° f S P° reS ' Which at the P r °P eI 



. . . time escape from their investment 



a, Carpogonium; t, tri- r m 



chogyne with adhe- and give rise to new plants. With 



rent spermatium (s); ^hese f ac t s before US, We must COn- 

 c, another trichogyne .-,.-,., , 



ce ]]. elude that the sexual arrangements 



of the Red Seaweeds are of an ad- 

 vanced and complicated character ; indeed, not one whit 

 less specialized than those of even the highest land-plants. 



The few facts we have noted about Seaweeds, stated 

 briefly, in cold print, and merely glanced at by an im- 



