18 
that one synergid should be a sister to the egg and the 
other to the upper polar nucleus! All students however 
agree on both synergids being sisters, but the author, ap- 
pearing to throw aside his usual powers of self-criticism, 
moves as conclusive proof in favour of his view: “Da nach 
meiner Erklarung die ane Synergide eine Schwesterzelle 
des oberen Polkerns ist. 
. That lots of his further eae are taken from publ 
tions over fifteen years old and which have never since been 
confirmed. 
. That his arguments are sometimes misleading as he cha 
from preliminary notes which have been rectified later on 
(e.g. his quotations from Campsri, on Pandanus, 1909, and 
from StepHens on Penaeaceae, 1908, revised by these authors 
batts in 1911 and in 209). 
DO 
° 
eo 
° 
Ill. OUTLINES FOR A NATURAL SYSTEM. 
Our review of literature has led us to discern two sets of 
systems, the one based on the number of divisions from em- 
bryosac-mothercell up to the egg, and the other on the number 
of nuclei in the full-grown sac. All of these schemes however 
were artificial and none of them succeeded in giving an insight 
in’ origin and phylogeny of the Angiosperm sac. ~ 
Before beginning our attempt at a natural system of the 
gametophyte it will be good to remember sporophytical condi- 
tions which show that each part of the plant follows its own 
line of development. That is why descent never can be stated 
with absolute certainty, phylogeny always depending on.a com- 
plec of data. This, of course, must be applied to the study: of 
the gametophyte as well. A system based on the number of 
nuclei in. the full-grown sac (Ernst) or on the number of divi- 
sions from mothercell to egg (Counter) can hardly be considered 
of greater value for phylogenetical purposes than a sporophy- 
tical system based on the number of anthers only. If we want 
to detect the relations between the eight-nucleate sac and the 
- abnormal ones, we must make clear first how many individual 
morphological characters can be recognised in the female game- 
og 
