26 The Botanical Gazette. [January, 
and also atavistic phenomena are to be explained, the latter 
showing that the ids whose action is neutralized are not 
destroyed. 
While one-half reduction takes place in bryophytes, pteri- 
dophytes and phanerogams in spore mother-cells, in the lower 
cryptogams, where the oospore does not give rise to a definite 
sporophyte, the reduction probably takes place on the germina- 
tion of the oospore. This reduction is the return of the most 
highly organized plants, at the close of their life cycle, to the 
unicellular condition, the repetition of phylogeny in ontogeny. 
In carefully comparing the generative processes of animals 
and plants it becomes evident that there is nothing in plants 
which corresponds to the polar bodies of animals, and that 
such reference of the ventral canal-cells of archegoniates is 
without foundation. 
The spore mother-cell, therefore, is to be regarded as the 
first term of the new generation. The center of gravity of 
the developmental processes which take place in sporangia 
does not lie in the cells styled the ‘archesporium, ” which 
still belongs to the asexual generation, but in the spore 
mother-cells. It is of little importance whether there be a 
well-defined archesporium or not, as it is merely the meriste- 
matic tissue from which the spore mother-cells are derived, 
so that its differentiation cannot be of any special signifi- 
cance.— J. M. C. 
Anatomy of the genus Carex. 
It seems very natural that a genus so large as Carex, esti- 
mated to contain about 800 species, has caused considerable 
trouble to the systematists in regard to the most natural ar- 
rangement of the numerous species. The modern discrimin- 
ation of species by means of anatomy is far from always to be 
applied as a support for the systematic position of species in 
natural groups; this is only too manifest, when we compare 
the results gained by recent investigations. And with the 
genus Carex, we are far from through yet, though the pres- 
ent time seems to throw some light upon the conception of 
the true relationship among the species. Valuable assistance 
has been rendered to students of this genus by the authors 
who have made a special study of the anatomy of a number 
of te seca Bordet! and Mazel? have given several anatomi- 
‘ Sager ee anatomiques sur le genre Carex. Revue générale de Botanique, 
. 1 18 
s cindes d'anatomie comparée sur - organes de végétation dans le genre — 
Carex. 1—213. p/. 7. 1891. [Thése. Genéve.] ‘ 
