MaltiiLdch'utcd Coiuiitum, oj tlic Vajddhlt Cell. 41 



Ilegelmaiur* has discovered a plurality of uiudei in the 

 cells of the suspensor of plants belonging to the tribe 

 Viciece of Leguminosce. Among the species he examined, 

 were Pisum sativum^ Lens esculenta, Vicia Sejmim, and V. 

 jnsi/ormis. The two apical cells of the suspensor have 

 numerous nuclei — it may be twenty or even thirty, usually 

 about twelve — embedded in the parietal layer of proto- 

 plasm In the two basal cells the number is still larger, 

 and seems to depend on the size of the cell. The nuclei 

 in tlie basal cells begin first to divide, and when these have 

 reached a certain number, at least sixteen, those in the 

 upper cells begin to divide. There is never the least trace 

 of a septum between the nuclei in tlie lower cells, and the 

 formation of a septum between those in the upper cells is 

 extremely rare. 



M. Guignard f also describes a plurality of nuclei in the 

 suspensor of plants belonging to the tribe Viciece of Legu- 

 minosce, e.g., in Orobus angustifolius, 0. aureus, 0. nigcr, 

 and 0. rosensete, and Lathyrus hetcrophyllus. The disposi- 

 tion of the nuclei is regular as a rule, but is not always so. 

 They are situated in the layer of parietal protoplasm. They 

 are commonl}^ spherical, but are frequently ovoid, and are 

 easily distinguished from the nuclei of the embryo sac. 

 He is unable to assign a cause for this plurality of nuclei. 

 It is not exclusively the size of the cells, as in some 

 Orchidea3 we find cells as large with only one nucleus. It 

 is, he thinks, probably connected with some physiological 

 function. 



Johow| describes a plurality of nuclei in the cells of the 

 vegetative system of some Monocotyledons, giving details of 

 the occurrence of the phenomena in the case of Tradescantia, 

 Allium Cepa, and Orchis maculata. Tlie original nucleus 

 of the cell becomes constricted, and then divides into two 

 or more pieces, without any visible change of structure. 

 This takes place in cells of considerable age, but in which 

 the protoplasm is still in circulation, and contains chloro- 

 phyll and starch. He prefers to name this phenomenon 

 " direct division," in preference to the term "fragmentation " 

 npplied to it by Ed. van Beneden. 



* Bot. Ztg., xxxviii. (1880), p. 513. 



•^ BuU. Soc. Bot France, xxvii. (1880), pp. 101-103. 



X Bot. Zt'j., xxxviii. (1880), p. 82''., Moni), 1880. 



