Reproductive Organs. 15 



Whatever view may be taken of the paiiiug of the couidia, whether of 

 sexual value or not, it is a very characteristic feature in certain genera, and 

 the nuclear phenomena underlying it ought to be taken into consideration. 

 Dangeard, in investigating the conidia of TiUetia, found nuclei in the fusion 

 tubes under such conditions that it suggested the view that they might serve 

 as a means of equalizing the distribution of the nuclei. It might happei\ 

 that, in the formation of conidia, some might receive two nuclei and some 

 none at all, and the connecting tube would permit of the balance being 

 restored. It would be interesting to observe in this connexion if the unpaired 

 conidia always possessed a single nucleus only, for here we are merely dealing 

 with a possible supposition still awaiting facts to support it. 



