CHABA PRAGILIS. 307 



In order to realise it, let us examine a ripe antheridium externally 

 with a magnification of about 100 diameters. It shows then 

 apparently a red centre, surrounded by a colourless sheath. This 

 colourless sheath is segmented by beautifully-arranged partition 

 walls. Now search for an antheridium which is as ripe as possible, 

 and which will be found somewhere upon a branch, the upper- 

 most antheridium of which (which first dehisces) has already 

 fallen to pieces ; cut it off with the needles, and crush it carefully 

 under a cover-glass. if the antheridium is thoroughly ripe, 

 its wall falls into regular pieces, the shields. From the interior 

 come numerous long, delicate filaments, and between these some 

 cylindrical orange-coloured cells. These last are set into the 

 centres each of one of the shields, like handles, and are known as 

 the manubria, and their colour arises from elongated chromato- 

 phores. More careful examination further shows us that each 

 such unicellular manubrium bears at its narrower end a colourless 

 rounded cell, the capitulum, from which arise a number of 

 smaller colourless cells the secondary capitula. From these 

 arise the numerous slender, colourless filaments. Even with a 

 power of 200 diameters we can see that each of these threads 

 consists of a large number of flattened cells, forming a linear 

 series. If the antheridium is ripe, we can see in each of these 

 cells a coiled thread the spermatozoid, 



We now place our preparation in a suspended drop in a moist 

 chamber, while we endeavour in another fashion to obtain in- 

 formation as to the structure of the wall of the antheridium. 

 When the antheridium is crushed, a clear insight into the struc- 

 ture of this wall is hardly to be obtained ; for the natural 

 dehiscence of the antheridium upon the object-slide we should 

 wait in vain ; here and there, however, where antheridia have 

 opened a short time before, the segments of the wall can usually 

 still be found. They adhere to the branch, held together by the 

 disorganised remnants of the threads. We separate one out with 

 the needles, and can now easily study their form and structure. 

 They are either triangular, or irregularly quadrangular. These 

 segments, or shields, are flat, and are traversed by partition walls, 

 which, directed towards a common central point, do not however 

 reach it. Each shield is therefore unicellular, chambered, how- 

 ever, round its margin by the projecting ridges. The ridges 

 correspond with indentations of the margin. The shields contain 

 red globular chromatophores, which, separated by the ridges into 



