PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES: 123 
vegetative cells or simply a bristle. Further, no species seems to 
possess the septum dividing the cell supporting the oogonium so 
high up therein as is the case in the present plant. Indeed, when 
seemingly absent, Mr. Archer was inclined to think that this was 
due to its being so close up under the oogonium as to be obscured 
by it, and to be made appear as if absent. 
It is, indeed, much to be desired that the promised descriptions 
of all the species known to him in this genus and in GQidogonium 
should be published by their able exponent, Professor Pringsheim ; 
at least such a desirable additional contribution to the knowledge 
of these interesting algw had not met Mr. Archer’s observation. 
Should this description of a form, probably, indeed, already well 
known to Professor Pringsheim, though seemingly not described 
by that distinguished observer (and should he approve of the 
same), ever meet his eye, Mr. Archer trusted that, i token of 
the great gratification he had enjoyed from several of his (Pro- 
fessor Pringsheim’s) beautiful researches and masterly writings, 
he might not quite disdain the compliment intended to be con- 
veyed by so humble an individual in this far-off western island, in 
calling this plant Bulbochete Pringsheimiana. 
Mr. Archer drew attention to a peculiar condition of Dinobryon 
sertularia (Ehr.), and he mentioned that he had just happened to 
meet with a notice of what seemed to him to be asimilar condition 
of this organism. This was by Dr. Hermann, who, in a paper 
“Ueber die bei Neudamm aufgefundenen Arten des Genus 
Characium” (in Rabenhorst’s ‘ Beitrage zur niheren Kenntniss 
und Verbreitung der Algen,’ Heft i), incidentally mentions a 
state of Dinobryon doubtless quite identical with that observed by 
Mr. Archer. Although neither, indeed, threw much light on the 
question as to the development of this organism, yet the present 
observation would be a confirmation, so far as it went, of that of 
Dr. Hermann, and both went to indicate that Dinobryon passes 
through a phase not apparently generally known. The change in 
the present specimens consisted in the living part of the indi- 
viduals comprising the colony becoming encysted, not, indeed, 
within the “lorica,” but at its mouth, into a globular green body, 
smoothly bounded, and contained within a hyaline globular infla- 
tion, whose bounding wall passed off into, and seemed a continu- 
tion of, the somewhat expanded mouth of the well-known 
campanulate colourless “lorica.” This encysted portion, the 
original lorica being left out of view, had somewhat the appear- 
ance of a minute form of Chlamydomonas, though, of course, 
quiescent, and contained some pale green granules. Many speci- 
mens were to be seen empty, the hyaline, original, campanulate 
lorica and its globular inflated addition having become vacated by 
the globular green spore-like body ; but Mr. Archer had never 
been able to perceive the moment when these were set free. In 
the water in which these specimens pretty plentifully occurred 
there abounded a number of minute Chlamydomonas-like active 
