1 68 ARCHEGONIATES. 



If the results of the several observers referred to in the preceding 

 paragraphs be correct, the behavior of the fusion nucleus in Pinus 

 differs not only from that of Cycas and Ginkgo as described by Ikeno, 

 but also from the fusion nucleus in all other plants, a case described 

 in a species of Spirogyra by Chmielewskij excepted. 



The fate of the other male nucleus, together with that of the stalk 

 cell and tube, indicates that these structures are consumed as nutrient 

 material. Whether the cytoplasm which is brought into the egg with 

 the male nucleus or as a part of the spermatozoid has any morpho- 

 logical or hereditary value must still remain an open question. 



From the standpoint of this work the development and union of the 

 sexual elements in the Gnetales are so imperfectly known that a dis- 

 cussion of the subject will not be given. The process of fecundation 

 in Gnetum gnemon has been described in considerable detail by Lotsy 

 ('99), to whose paper the reader is referred. 





