i88 9 .] 



BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 



83 



plasmic strands connecting the contracted brown plasmic bodies as shown 

 in the accompanying cut. To make a permanent mount, it will be nee- 

 essary to use some stain for the plasmic bodies and their connecting 

 strands; otherwise the strands gradually become so transparent in the 

 glycerine as to be almost invisible. The ease of demonstration in case of 

 the buckeye, as compared with other dicotyledons previously used, de- 

 pends upon the fact that the plasmic protuberances do not break up into 

 delicate fibrils on entering the walls. This demonstration was made by 



T. Eva ^' ™ y assista ™> and the sk ^tch by Mr. Seaton, a special student. 



Laboratory, Wabash College. 



Monotropa miiflora as a subject for demonstrating the embryo-sac. 



In the "Botanisches Practicum," 1 Strasburger figures the embryo-sac of 



Monotropa Hypopitys as the most favora- 

 ble plant known to him for its study in the 

 living state. 



I have found M. uni flora to be even better 

 suited to this purpose owing to the greater 

 size of the ovules and embryo-sac, the latter 

 being just about twice as long as that of 

 the former species, and showing quite as 

 clearly all the details of its structure. 



It is only necessary to strip away a little 

 piece of the placenta with the adherent 

 ovules and mount in water, or, better still, 

 a weak (about 3 per cent.) sugar solution. 

 In the latter fluid the ovules remain un- 

 changed for several hours, and may be stud- 

 ied at leisure. 



The embryo-sac is covered with but two 

 layers or cells, and these are perfectly col- 

 orless, so as not to interfere in the slightest 

 with the view of the embyro-sac. 



M. uni flora is not at all a rare plant and 

 may usually be had throughout the sum- 

 mer. The specimen from which the ac- 

 companying figures were made was col- 

 lected at Bloomington, Sept. 24. 



The figures are from camera drawings 

 and will give a good idea of the structure 



** • 



1 j 



irA' 9 vu , lc of Monotropa miiflora 

 «J .optical section, X about 100: m, 

 microi>yi^ ; Cj embryo sac. B. The 



a?ont r< ^ acof a BtoUM ovule, X 



^nhl 3 , 0: s ' eynergidae: o, 00- 



pnere:^, endosperm nucleus (the 



two endosperm nuclei have unit- 



tinJx Ut their nuclei are still dis- 

 ll nct) ; g, antipodal cells. 



of the ovule and embryo sac— Douglas H. C amy bkll, Bloomington, Ind. 



1 Hillhouse's translation, p. 331 



