204 The Philippine Journal of Science 



small daughters have each four gonidia, in two pairs, large and 



^ Specimen U .-Plate 6, fig. 41. This is a coenobium that had 

 eight gonidia that were arranged in four symmetrical pairs of 

 different sizes. Those of the largest and next largest formed a 

 square in the middle of the coenobium. Those of the third pair 

 are behind and alternating with those of the two pairs m the 

 middle of the coenobium. Those of the fourth pair were some- 

 what behind the members of the largest pair and were farther 

 back than the third pair. The mother coenobium measures 350 

 by 370 ix 8 The spacing of the cells averages about 10.7 /*. The 

 number of cells is about 3,900. The protoplasts are globose 

 and about 5 f, wide in the back and 7 ^ wide in the front. The 

 daughters are more nearly equal in size than those in the pre- 

 ceding specimen. Measurements of one of each pair are: 145 

 by 155 p. and 125 by 125 ^ for the two pairs in the middle, 112 

 by 115 /, for the pair at the back, and 60 by 60 /* and 60 by 65 l, 

 for the embryos. The pair of largest gonidia of each of the 

 daughters in the middle group measure 50 ^ those of the 

 daughters in the back of the mother, 46 and 39 u,. In the largest 

 daughters there are six and five gonidia, and in the others four 

 with the addition of one or two vestigial gonidia. The embryos 

 are hollow spheres with open phialopores. The one nearest the 

 observer consists of about one hundred sixteen cells. The so- 

 matogenic cells are about 7 by 9 ^ in surface view. _ Two gonidia 

 that can be measured are about 18 ^ and 14 li wide, the latter 

 being nearer the phialopore. The indications are that the go- 

 nidia were formed at the 32-cell stage and showed their dif- 

 ferentiation by not dividing when the somatogenic cells divided. 



Specimen £2.— Plate 6, fig. 42. This coenobium is very simi- 

 lar to the preceding. It has six daughters in which the gonidia 

 are in pairs and range from four to six with one or two vestigial 

 gonidia in some of the cases, including both of those with six 

 gonidia. 



The forms here described with six, seven, and eight gonidia 

 present no characters in the numbers, combinations, or arrange- 

 ment of asexual reproductive bodies by which they can be dis- 

 tinguished from Merrillosphaera africana. Specimens 39 to 42, 

 inclusive, are from a collection in which the coenobia were very 

 abundant, formed almost a pure culture of the species, and 

 presented a great variety of stages. A scanning of a preparation 



■ The dimensions in 1916, as indicated by the photograph, were 400 by 



