222 



THE AMEKICAN MONTHLY 



[December, 



At that time it was still a question 

 whether the spherical, red particles 

 were of animal or vegetal nature. 

 Mr. Bauer compared them to the 

 ' pollen of some plants, or to the 

 minute fungi of the genus Uredo.'' 

 Examining them with higher mag- 

 nification, he ' soon found several in- 

 dividuals still adhering to their pedi- 

 cles, the same as I have found in 

 most species of Uredo ^ and which 

 distinguishes these minute fungi from 

 the pollen of some plants.' 



In the plate accompanying this 

 interesting article the cells are figured 

 with their pedicels, and also the clus- 

 ters upon the 'jelly-like spawn,' as 

 the author termed it, which is repre- 

 sented as a mass of small, oval, yel- 

 lowish, growing cells. The name 

 Uredo nivalis was therefore given to 

 the plant. 



It is quite evident from the figures 

 that the idea that the plant is an 

 Uredo greatly influenced these ob- 

 servations. Yet imperfect instruments 

 may have contributed to the mistakes. 

 There are no pedicels, and the ' spawn' 

 is probably the gelatinous material 

 which surrounds the cells. 



I n Philosophical Transactions^ 

 1820, p. 165, is another article by 

 Francis Bauer, Esq., F. L. S., in 

 which he describes some experiments 

 with the specimens of red snow col- 

 lected by Capt. Ross. Still main- 

 taining that it is a fungus growth, the 

 writer placed samples in small glass 

 bottles, packed the latter full of snow, 

 and observed a considerable increase 

 of the cells in the course of several 

 experiments. He observed that the 

 plant would not grow on the surface 

 of the snow, but flourished when 

 entirely imbedded in it. The results 

 of these experiments, however, do 

 not seem to possess much value, as 

 they throw no light upon the method 

 of growth or structure of the plant. 

 Even the fact of cell division, under 

 the artificial conditions, seems not to 

 be satisfactorily established. 



Professor Hooker, in the Appendix 

 to Captain Parry's Voyage for the 



Discovery of a Northwest Passage, 

 1819-20, Supplement, p. 428, re- 

 garded the plant as ' not decidedly a 

 Palmella^* since the granules are 

 not immersed, yet approaches much 

 nearer to it than to Uredo ^^ and he 

 suggested that the generic character 

 of Lyngbye's genus Palmella might 

 be modified to include it. 



The same writer thus alludes to its 

 occurrence in the Arctic I'egions : — 



' That a plant should vegetate in 

 and upon snow, and that it should do 

 so, too, to such an extent as to cover 

 a tract of eight miles in length, and 

 frequently to a depth through the 

 snow of ten or twelve feet, must, in- 

 deed, excite our astonishment.' 



In Greville's Scottish Flora there is 

 an interesting account of this minute 

 plant, which is there described as 

 Protococctcs nivalis^ the name first 

 given to it by Agardh. Greville states 

 that the red globules appear reticulated 

 on the surface owing to enclosed gran- 

 ules, usually 6-8 in number, which 

 escape by rupture of the mother cell. 

 I have examined many cells under 

 conditions favorable for observing any 

 reticulation or granules, but have not 

 detected anything of the kind. It is 

 not unlikely, however, that none of 

 my specimens were in the condition 

 of growth to show granules, which 

 perhaps may be seen in other stages. 

 The description of Greville, how- 

 ever, seems to be based upon observa- 

 tions on a plant found by Capt. Car- 

 michael on the borders of the lakes 

 of Linsmore, in Scotland, growing 

 ' abundantly over the decayed reeds, 

 leaves, etc., at the water's edge.' This 

 indicates a very different habitat from 

 the polar snows or snow-clad sum- 

 mits of mountains, and there may be 

 a question whether the Scottish and 

 the Aixtic plants are the same. How- 

 ever, this author, referring to the 

 distribution of the red snow, writes 

 as follows : — ' The most probable 

 conjqctui-e seems to be, that the 

 snow is not the natural situa- 



* Pahnel'a Lyngbye, miss.i gel.itiiio-ia.sujhyalina, 

 granulis solitanis globosis farcta. 



