240 REV. E. o'meara. 



Recent Researches in the Diatomacej5. 

 By the Rev. Eugene O'Meara, M.A.^ 



The second of a series of treatises in course of publication 

 under the direction of Dr. Johannes Hanstein, under the 

 title of ' Botanische Abhandlungen aus deni Gebiet der 

 Morphologie und Physiologic,' is eminently calculated to 

 interest such as are engaged in the study of the Diatoms, and 

 promote their knowledge of these interesting and ornamental 

 organisms. These benefits, however, must be confined to 

 those students who are acquainted with German, unless some 

 one undertake to remove the obstruction, and present the 

 treatise in an English dress. 



Dr. E. Pfitzer's ' Untersuchungen Uber Ban und Entwick- 

 lung der Bacillariaceen (Diatomaceen) ' deserves more than a 

 passing notice, and therefore, in justice to the author, as 

 well as with a view to the benefit of my fellow-labourers in 

 this field of research, I shall not content myself with directing 

 attention to some of its most salient points, but shall, in a 

 few papers, give a brief analysis of the entire treatise. 



With great justice, the author remarks that since Nitzsch 

 and Ehrenberg opened up the path to this interesting field of 

 observation, very little has been added to our knowledge of 

 the structure and development of the soft contents of the 

 diatomaceous frustule, notwithstanding that many distin- 

 guished men, in different countries, have devoted themselves 

 to the study of the Diatoms. This failure is to be accounted 

 for by the fact that most observers have come to the exami- 

 nation only after the organic parts have been destroyed by 

 acid or burning. And I would invite the special attention 

 of my fellow-labourers to the observation of our author, that 

 so partial an investigation cannot continue without injurious 

 effect on the growth of our knowledge of this group. The 

 task which Dr. Pfitzer has proposed to himself is by a series 

 of careful observations to prove the accuracy of Meneghini's 

 observation, " That anatomy has to effect the same beneficial 

 revolution in the Natural Classification of Diatomacece as has 

 been produced in the system and nomenclature of Conchylia." 

 This arduous enterprise he entered on with full confidence 

 of ultimate success, and aided by a very extensive acquaint- 

 ance with the literature of the subject. I would take occa- 

 sion to recommend my fellow-labourers to make themselves 



» Reprinted (by permissiou) from the * Journal of Botany,' March and 

 May, 1872. 



