1 62 BOTANICAL GAZETTE. [June, 



Some conclusions of Belajeff as to the constitution of the anthero- 

 zoids of ferns and equiseta, based upon researches in December, 1888, but 

 just published 1 differ very materially from those of Guignard, 2 though 

 the two observers seem to have seen about the same things. Belajeff 

 says : " In all vascular cryptogams the body of the spermatozoid consists 

 of a colorless band, in which a chromatin-filament or body is enclosed. 

 The development shows that the achromatic band arises from the plasma, 

 the chromatin body from the nucleus of the mother-cell." Guignard : 

 " In the ferns it is again the nucleus alone that is transformed directly 

 into a spiral band; the cilia arise from a peripheral layer, relatively 

 thick, of hyaline protoplasm. * * * The morphological transformation 

 of the nucleus is accompanied by internal modifications which render 

 the spiral band homogeneous and equally chromatic, except in the poste- 

 rior part where it is colored a little less by the reaction of the nuclein. 

 The very delicate envelope of the body is not formed directly by the pro- 

 toplasm." 



M. Gaston Bonnier has, to our mind at least, completely settled the 

 vexed question of the nature of lichens, by his recent experiments in the 

 synthesis of these organisms. In the first part of the ninth volume of 

 the Annates des sciences naturelles (botanique) he explains fully his 

 methods of culture and the results attained. 3 The methods seem as rigid 

 as possible. Stahl's researches in this direction, while of the utmost sig- 

 nificance, were open to objection in that they did not exclude sources of 

 possible error, because the cultures were exposed to ordinary air and the 

 sowings were made on unsterilized media. Bonnier has avoided this 

 source of error by carefully sterilizing all his media, culture flasks, im- 

 plements, etc. Two methods of culture were used, flasks or tubes, and 

 cells. In both cases arrangements were made for the renewal of the air 

 either by the natural currents due to changes of temperature or by arti- 

 ficial means. In both cases germs were excluded by causing the air to 

 pass through cotton plugs. Algae of known species were collected (their 

 purity demonstrated by microscopic examination) and sowed on pieces 

 of sterilized bark, rocks, etc. Then spores of lichens were sown on the 

 same substratum. Except in one instance, fructifications were obtained 

 within two years. The following is a list of the species grown in this 

 way. In appearance and structure they were like the wild forms : With 

 Protococcus, Physcia parietina, P. stellaris, Parmelia Acetabulum ; with 

 Pleurococcus, Lecanora sophodes, L. subf usca, L. coilocarpa, L. csesio-rufa ; 

 with Trentepohha, Opegrapha vulgata, Graphis elegans, ?Verrucaria mu- 



'Berichte d. deutsch. bot. Gesells. vii. 122. 



2 See this journal, ante, p. 137, and Revue gen. de Bot. i. 71. 



3 Brief reference was made to some of Bonnier's results in this journal, xii. 202. His 

 experiments were begun in 18*2 and completed last year. 



