488 



NATURE 



[Sept. 1 8, 1879 



luded to. Many different forms of the spermatophore found in 

 Helices from Eastern A?ia, are shown and the position of the organ 

 in the generative system of Bduaria magnifica from Burmah is 

 described. 



On Budding in the Syllidean Annelids^ chiefly with Reference 

 to a Branched Form from the ^* Challenger,''^ by Dr. W. C. 

 Mcintosh, F.R.S. — Propagation by budding is a prevalent fea- 

 ture amongst the Coelenterata, the organisms assuming in many 

 cases a dendritic appearance, so that the name of sea-trees given 

 to them by our fishermen is by no means inappropriate to their 

 external contour. A similar condition is seen in many of the 

 Polyzoa, and in the creeping stolons of Clavelina ^xA Perophora. 

 In the sub-kingdom Vermes, again, naturalists have been long 

 familiar with a mode of propagation by division or fissiparous 

 development. Thus O. F. Miiller describes two kinds of bud- 

 ding in the fresh-water A^ais pi-obosciiea^ and gives an account of 

 the same process in Nereis ptolifera. Amongst others, De 

 (^uatrefages and Frey and Leuckart in the same species ; Milne- 

 Kdwards in Myriandra ; Sars in Filig7-ana ; O. Schmidt in 

 Nais microstoma and Filigrana ; Max Schultze, R. Leuckart, 

 and Traube in the former species ; Alex. Agassiz in Autotytus 

 cornuius ; Schmarda in Catemda ; and Lankester in Chaiogasta, 

 show how widely this mode of development has been recognised. 

 The feature that mainly concerns us at present in regard to these 

 descriptions is the fact that a new animal is produced in a line 

 with the old by various modifications of budding. In no in- 

 stance is there any approach to a branched condition by lateral 

 offshoots from either parent stock or bud. As an example of 

 one of the best known marine forms, the account of Autolytus 

 cornuius by Alexander Agassiz may be cited. This species ex- 

 hibits a kind of alternation of generation, the parent stock (which 

 is asexual) giving rise posteriorly to male and fem.ile buds which 

 differ much in appearance from each other. The latter produce 

 ova, which by and by develop in the peculiar body-sac into a 

 swarm of parent stocks with which the cycle commenced. 



The discovery of a species [Syllis i-amosa) of the same family 

 {SyllidcE)j which forms an intricate series of branches by lateral 

 budding of the parent stock, by Sir Wyville Tliomson in a 

 hexactinellid sponge from Zebu, is one of the remarkable results 

 of the Challeriger expedition. 



A detailed account of the animal then followed, and the re- 

 markable absence of all trace of a head prominently noticed. 



Embryology of Gymnadenia conopsea, by F. Mar^haIl Ward. 

 — The researches of the last two years, especially of Stras- 

 burger^ and Warming, ^ and also of Vesque,^ have yielded 

 results sufficiently at variance with the older ones to warrant a 

 serious reconsideration of the whole question of homologies. 

 The main points may be put somewhat as follows : — 



The embryo-sac is not the result of simple enlargement of one 

 cell ; a cell of an axial series of the ovule enlarges and cuts off 

 two or more cells from its apex — the remainder becomes the 

 embryo-sac,* and causes dissolution of the others as it enlarges, 

 their remains persisting as refractive caps for some time. The 

 protoplasmic contents of the embryo-sac separates into two chief 

 masses, which pass to the opposite ends of the enlarging sac, a 

 large vacuole forming between. Each mass then suffers division 

 into four by planes cutting one another at right angles. In this 

 way eight nucleated masses of protoplasm without cell-walls 

 arise, three of which remain at each end of the embryo-sac, while 

 owt. from each end wanders towards the centre of the sac and 

 there fuses with its neighbour to form the nucleus of the sac. 



Of the three anterior nucleated masses, two become elongated, 

 fit into the top of the embryo-sac as the *'Gehiilfmnen," or *'syner- 

 gidse" of Strasbiirger, and are probably -what Schacht described 

 as the ** filiform apparatus " ; their function is somewhat obscure, 

 but appears to be related to the act of fertilisation between the 

 end of the pollen-tube and the third nucleated mass, w hich has 

 rounded off as a large bright egg-cell or ovum, and is suspended 

 from the base and sides of the ** Gehiilfinnen." 



The three posterior masses may not become completely 

 isolated, or they may remain passive, or some may disappear, or 

 they may multiply by division. Where endosperm is formed they 

 ajipear to enter into its formation. 



The author finds in Gymnadenia,^ Butomus, Alisma, Anthe- 

 ricum, and Ranunculus ovules, confirmation of these views. 



' "Ueber Befmchtung u. Zelltheilurg," and "Die Angiospermen u. 

 G\ mnospernem." 



= Ann. des Sc. Nat. Bot., 1878. 3 Attn, des Sc. Nat. Sot., 1878. 



4 Vesque, however, thought a fusion of at least two superposed cells 

 produced the embryo-?ac. 



5 Strasburger has partly walked thi«, so far as the fint dlvlsifns of the 



With reference to \Varming,i and \'e3que's*-* view that the 

 origin of the embryo-sac is comparable to that of the mother- 

 cell of pollen, and that the eight nucleated masses arranged in 

 fours are therefore homologues of pollen grains (/.<?., spores), the 

 following facts are of importance, as failing to support the 

 theory: — i. The diffluent cell walls which form between the 

 cells cut off by the embryo-sac mother-cell, are in no way im- 

 portant on account of their resemblance to the diffluent walls in 

 pollen formation ; they also resemble the diffluent walls formed 

 in the suspensor (pro-embryo), or any other organ rapidly ab- 

 sorbed, ike. 2. The division into fours by planes crossing at 

 right angles is common to many other processes besides pollen 

 formation, e.g., the embryo itself. 3. Vesque's view as to the 

 embryo-sac arising by fu.sion of several cells is not supported by the 

 existence of the remains of the two cap cells above the embryo- 

 sac — the remains of the supposed fusing cells. 



Co7nparison of the Effects of the Frosts of 1 860-6 1, and of 

 1878-9, by E. J. Lowe, K.R.S.— The greatest cold of i860 ex- 

 ceeded that of last winter by 10° ; it was 6° below zero in i860, 

 and 4° above zero in the late frost. 



The present paper records the great difference in the effects in 

 the two frosts at Highfield House, Nottingham : — 



Name. 

 Acacia O^^ng spined) . 



Elm (broad leaved) . 



Frost of i860. 

 Slightly injured 



Bay (sweet) . 



Deodar cedar 

 Arbutus . . 



Uninjured . . . . 

 Killed to the ground 



Became deciduous, other- 

 wise uninjured . . . 

 Killed to the grcund . . 



Aucuba 



Pampas grass . . . 

 Arancaria imbricata 



Vew 



Wellingicnia gigantea 

 Evergreen oak . . . 



Ivy 



Fennel .... 



Sage 



Roses (standards) . 



,, on their own roots 

 ReiinosPora ohtusa . . 



,, squamosa . 



>i le^ioclada . 



„ ericoides . 



,, Jiiifera . , 



,t pliiviosa . 



,, plutnosa 



afgentea. 



Junipents excelsa . . 



,, chinensis 



aurea . . 

 rhoj-ninvi itnax . . . 

 Eugenia iigtii .... 

 1 'itcca gloriosa . . . 

 Cineraria inarithua 

 Laurel, common . . . 



Killed 



Killed to where buried 



in the snow .... 

 Slightly damaged . . 

 Much injured .... 

 Many killed, all became 



deciduous .... 

 More or less injured . . 



Uninjured 



Killed 



AUkUled 



Frost of 1878. 

 Many boughs killed and 



was a month iatercom- 



ing into leaf. 

 Three-quarters of boughs 



killed back at least 



a feet. 

 The ends of the shoot? 



only killed and all th(^ 



leaves. 



Not injured. 



Half the branches killed, 



the others injured. 

 Uninjured. 

 Killed. 



Many killed 

 Killed . . 



Uninjured. 

 Slightly damaged. 



Uninjured. 



More or less injured. 



AH killed. 



Uninjured. 



Many killed, nearly all 



injured. 

 Uninjured. 



Slightly injured. 

 Uninjured. 



Killed on the 

 of the uee 



north half 



Slightly injured. 

 Uninjured. 



ICilled 



Portugal . 



Holly . 



Thuja aurea . 

 Coik tree. . . 

 Deutzia gracilis 

 Quince . . . 

 Yew, golden 

 Pinus iusiguis 

 „ pigmy . 



,, tnorinda . . 

 Laurustinus .... 

 Abies Nordmanniana 



Walnut 



Apples 



Many killed to the 

 ground 



Nearly all killed . . . 



Most killed in the 

 branches to the height 

 of 7 feet 



Mostly killed .... 



Killed 



Scarcely injured . . . 



Killed _ 



Slightly injured . . . 



Killed 



SUghtly 



Became deciduous, and 

 had no leaves for a 

 year 



Slightly injured . . . 



All killed 



Uninjured 



Boughs killed and one 

 tree 



Only killed to the ground.^ 

 Half the branches killed. ' 

 Slightly injured.j 

 Killed. 



Uninjured. 



Slightly injured. 



Uninjured. 



Uninjured. 



Lost half its leaves and 

 some boughs. 



Uninjured, except a want 

 of vigour; leaves only 

 half the usual sixe. 



Leaves small, fruit scarce 

 and remarkably small. 



embryo-sac mother-cell are concerned. He also gives figures of Anthericum. 

 Vesque's account of Butomus is not supported by the author's drawings. 

 ^ Ann. d Sciences Nat., 1878. = Ann. ^. Sc. Nnf., 1878, 



