3i6 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [october 



instrument, he reports that he could see in the starch grains concentric or excen- 

 tric rows of particles, for which he uses Nagelt's term micellae. These are sepa- 

 rated by spaces which are optically empty or possibly contain amicroscopic matter. 

 On swelling, the micellae separate more and more and lose their regular arrange- 

 ment. Cell membranes show an essentially similar structure, cellulose walls 

 showing very small pale particles, woody and corky walls, on the contrary, having 

 brilliant and large micellae. 



Living cytoplasm is a hydrosol complex. The micellae show active Brownian 

 movements, oscillation, wiggling, collision, recession, etc.,* even when actively 

 streaming. The better nourished the cytoplasm is, the more numerous and 

 closer are the micellae and the less the amplitude of the movements; and vice 

 versa. By a thin hydrogel layer, a coagulum formed by the electrolytes present 

 in the water of the cell wall and vacuole, this hydrosol is protected against further 

 injury by coagulation or against excessive solution by water. The healing of this 

 hydrogel layer or ectoplast after taking in or extruding solid particles (as in 

 Amoeba) is explained as due to coagulation of the micellae of the hydrosol at the 

 spot exposed by the break to the action of electrolytes. At the death of the 

 protoplast there arises a hydrogel complex. The nucleus consists of a hydrosol 

 complex poor in water. The chromatophores resemble rather the hydrogel com- 

 plex. Microsomes consist of several micellae and are comparable to the 

 Micellarverbdnden of Nageli. 



So far as these preliminary accounts show, GATDtTKOV is not merely reporting 

 what he sees, but is making many assumptions as to their interpretation. — C. R. B. 



Germination ot fern and moss spores. — Laage^^ has made a somewhat 

 extended study of the germination of fern and moss spores in darkness. By 

 using both organic and inorganic solutions as culture media he was able to germi- 

 nate Osmunda regalis and thirteen out of sixteen species of Polypodiaceae in 

 darkness. Germination and starch formation were obtained in Osmunda 

 grown in distilled water without the influence of light. Fe^Cla and FeS04 



germination 



Of all the 



Polypodiaceae, sown in darkness, Pteris aquilina and Scolopendrium ojjicinariun 

 germinated best, and Asplenium lucidtdum and Polypodium aureum not at all. 

 Contrary to the results of Heald, higher temperatures were found to be detri- 

 mental to germination in the absence of light. No chlorophyll was produced in 

 darkness, although reported by Schilling. The osmotic effect of the solutions 

 on germinating spores was marked. Abnormal forms of rhizoids developed in 

 distilled water cultures, and in 4 per cent. Knop's solution they were sup- 

 pressed, while the young prothallia were deformed. A number of instructive 

 tables showing the effect of solutions of different strengths on germination and 

 number of cells produced in darkness are given. Of the mosses, Funaria and 

 Bryum were germinated in darkness by usine verv attenuated solutions of inors;anic 



F 



'•^Laage, a, Bedingungen der Keimung von Farn- und Moossporen. Beih. 

 Bot. Centralbl. 21:77-115. 1907, 



