CURREY, ON THE PHYTOZOA OF ANTHERIDIA. 51 



Hartig on the Phytozoa of Antheridia. By F. Currey, Esq., 



M.A. 



Was icird aus der Sckwtimfaden der Anthei-idien ? Dr. 

 Hartig has devoted a section of his essay on the develop- 

 ment of the vegetable cell, now in course of publication in 

 the ' Botanische Zeitung,' to a consideration of the above 

 question, and the results he has arrived at are highly curious 

 and interesting. Should further investigation lead to a con- 

 firmation of Dr. Hartig's views, the consequence will be that 

 several genera of the Infusoria must be transferred to the 

 vegetable kingdom. Dr. Cohn's lately-published observations, 

 will have already prepared the minds of the friends of the 

 Infusoria for such a result, and will cause the blow aimed by 

 Dr. Hartig at the animal nature of some of Professor Ehren- 

 berg's favourites to be less keenly felt. In the following 

 pages we purpose giving the substance of Dr. Hartig's paper, 

 which is of great interest to microscopical observers ; the 

 experiments are such as may be repeated without difficulty. 



The author commences by observing that the phytozoa of 

 the Characew are best suited for the observations in question, 

 inasmuch as, when placed upon a slide in water, thev are 

 then in their natural element ; but numerous observations 

 made upon the Antheridia of Chara, Nitella, Pohjtrichum, and 

 Marchantia, have led to the same results, and the last-named 

 plant has the advantage of affording the easiest opportunity 

 of procuring a large quantity of phytozoa free from the 

 admixture of foreign bodies. To effect this, the disk in 

 which the Antheridia are imbedded should be washed repeat- 

 edly with distilled water, its upper surface removed, and fine 

 transverse sections taken from beneath. If these sections be 

 placed upon a slide in a drop of distilled water, a vast number 

 of phytozoary cells will escape from the segments of the 

 Antheridia into the surrounding water. 



A dozen, at least, of such sections should be prepared, and 

 in order to prevent evaporation they must be placed upon 

 clean oiled-silk, and covered with bell-glasses lined with 

 moist blotting-paper. If these preparations be examined 

 twice or three times a day, certain changes will be observed 

 to take place in the phytozoa ; and since these changes run 

 through the whole mass of the phytozoa in each preparation, 

 they must be considered as normal. 



The above experiments constantly repeated have led uni- 

 formly to the following results. 



The free phytozoa are very soon drawn to the edge of the 

 drop of water (probably by the effect of evaporation), and 



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