HICKS, ON MOTIONLESS SPORES OF VOLVOX GLOBATOR. 281 



asserts that on one occasion he saw an ovum escaping through 

 an orifice near the tentacular rim from the cell of Laguncula, 

 but he distinctly states that it had no cilia. His observation, 

 however, has not been confirmed. No such orifice as he sup- 

 poses has, I believe, been detected by any other naturalist. 

 On the contrary, these non-ciliated ova may very commonly 

 be met with in the cells after the disappearance of the poly- 

 pides, and everything seems to show that they are only liberated 

 when the soft portions of the Polyzoa have quite perished. I 

 have repeatedly found specimens in which the polypides had all 

 disappeared, while in nearly every cell there was one of the 

 red, circular bodies of which I have spoken. In the case of 

 Flustra foliacea, Van Beneden remarks that the eggs (round, 

 deeply-coloured bodies, and perfectly motionless) " appear to 

 be hatched in the empty cells,'^ for that he had seen very young 

 individuals in the cells of adults. 



It would seem, then, that we have in this class two kinds of 

 reproductive bodies — the ciliated, actively moving embryos, 

 produced in the ovicells, which are liberated in immense 

 numbers, and diffuse the species far and wide ; and the non- 

 ciliated ova, produced in the cells, which are only removed 

 from the polyzoarium after the death of the polypides, and 

 may, perhaps, require a longer period for their perfect de- 

 velopment. 



It would be very interesting to know the complete history 

 of the last-named bodies, and I trust the subject will receive 

 the attention of those Avho may have the opportunity of con- 

 tinuous observation. 



On the Motionless Spores (Stato - spores) of Volvox 

 GLOBATOR. By J. Braxton Hicks, M.D. Lond., F.L.S., 

 &c. 



I BELIEVE that the condition of the zoospores of Volvox 

 have not been observed beyond the time when, in the autumn, 

 the imperfectly or partially formed daughters in their early 

 segmenting stage, or in their encysted state (testing spores), 

 are set free by solution of the parent envelope. I shall, in 

 the following lines, be able to show that there is yet another 

 stage through which they pass. 



These observations were made by keeping a large quantity 

 of Volvox, gathered late in autumn, in water in a glass vessel 

 for upwards of three months, watching very carefully and 

 very frequently ; after which time an accident unfortunately 

 prevented my extending them further. 



