154 Miscellaneous. 
are described the following new species of East Indian Sargassa, 
Sargassum obovatum, S. Wightti and S. cervicorne. Drawings and 
dissections were exhibited. ‘The paper will appear in the ‘ Annals of 
—_e History’ and in the Society’s Transactions. 
‘‘An Account of the Mosses and Hepatice growing on the 
ah a by Richard Spruce, Esq. (See p. 81 of the present 
Number.) . 
MISCELLANEOUS. 
On the Existence of an Ovum or Ovule as well in the Male as in the 
Female of Plants and Animals ; producing in the one case Sperma- 
tozoa or Pollen-grains, in the other the primitive Cells of the Embryo. 
By Cu. Rosin, M.D.* 
Tue above-named memoir was submitted to a commission, consist- 
ing of MM. Serres, Dumas, and Milne-Edwards, and the needa | 
report has been drawn up and printed in the ‘Comptes Rendus’: 
«« The facts contained in this memoir prove that, in the male or- 
gans of plants and of animals, an ovule is formed, anaiogous to that 
of the female, and constituted in a like manner; that the vitellus of — 
this ovule divides as does that of the female, and by the same me- 
chanism, giving rise to the development of the embryonary cells, which 
after being modified by a special evolution constitute pollen-grains or 
spermatozoa. ‘Thus there is an analogy, and often an identity, be- 
tween the product of the male generative organs and that of the 
female.. On the other hand, there is an identity in the mode of for- 
mation of the embryonary cells in the ovum of vegetables and of ani- 
mals; and lastly, the mechanism by which the embryonary cells of © 
the male ovule (which are modified to constitute pollen-grains or 
spermatozoa) are formed, is the same as that which gives birth to the 
primary cells of the female ovum, the collection of which forms the 
embryo. Thus the phenomenon of the division of the vitellus, 
figured and described for the first time among the Vertebrata by Pré- 
vost and Dumas, may be extended to vegetables in an equal degree, 
and it is the expression of a general and unique mechanism, according 
to which the embryonary cells and zoosperms of all beings are formed. 
“A. Analogy in the mode of formation of the embryonary cells in the 
ovules of animals and of vegetables. 
‘*], It has been for along time admitted that the ovum of animals 
appears among the cells of the Graafian vesicles, or the bottom of the 
ovigerous tubes of the ovary, in the form of a small translucent cell, 
the nucleus of which is represented by the germinal vesicle. By 
degrees the transparent contents of the cell become granular and 
opake, and constitute the vitellus. At this moment the ovum is 
fitted for fecundation : it is still but a cell in a morphological point 
of view; physiologically speaking, however, it has a special nature,— 
it isa product without an analogue in the body, and set apart fora spe- 
cial function. On the occurrence of fecundation it becomes subject 
to division, leading to the formation of embryonary cells at the ex- 
* The editors are indebted for this communication to J. T. Arlidge, 
F.R.C.S.L, 
