88 
NATURE 
[Mov. 23, 1882 
this article to pass in silence, and think that the pages of 
NATURE, in which already there has appeared a good 
deal relative to the supposed infection of animal tissues 
by green unicellular Algae, offer the most fitting place in 
which to lodge a protest against the reception of Mr. 
Hamann’s conclusions as reasonable, 
In the first place, Mr. Hamann has not made himself 
acquainted with previous writings on this subject. He 
briefly states that “ R. Lankester disputes ” the algal nature 
of the green corpuscles suggested by Brandt, and the 
existence of a cell-nucleus in them, and refers the reader 
to a paper by me on “‘ Symbiosis of Animals with Plants,” 
which has no existence. Mr. Hamann has not read 
the article to which he refers, which appeared in the 
Quart. Journ. Microsc. Sci. April, 1882, and was entitled 
“On the Chlorophyll Corpuscles and Amyloid Deposits of 
Spongilla and Hydra.” Mr. Hamann has accordingly 
failed altogether to take up the points of importance in 
the discussion. These seem to me to stand somewhat as 
follows : It had already been urged (1) that the green 
corpuscles of Hydra multiply by fission ; (2) that they 
possess each one or more cell-nuclei ; (3) that they possess 
a cell-wall comparable to the cellulose wall of a unicellular 
Alga ; (4) that starch is developed within them even after 
their removal from the living Hydra. It had been in- 
ferred (by Semper, and later by Brandt) that consequently 
these corpuscles must be considered as unicellular Algz. 
To these considerations I had replied in the article 
above named, by describing carefully the nature of the 
“ fragmentation,” or division of the chlorophyll corpuscles 
of both Hydra and Spongilla. I cited the notorious fact 
with regard to the chlorophyll corpuscles of plants, 
namely, that they multiply by fission. I showed further, 
by description and figures, that ¢here ts not any structure 
present in the chlorophyll corpuscles of either Hydra or 
Spongilla which ts comparable to a cell-nucteus or to a cell- 
wall, and that the ascribing of such parts to the chloro- 
phyll corpuscles of Hydra is totally erroneous. 
I further insisted that we are not acquainted with any 
unicellular Algz at all resembling the chlorophyll cor- 
puscles of Hydra, whilst the chlorophyll corpuscles of 
plants closely resemble them,—and finally I pointed out 
that there is as much reason to regard the chlorophyll 
corpuscles inthe leaf of a buttercup as unicellular Algee as 
there is so to regard those of Hydra viridis. 
Mr. Hamann does not in any way deal with these 
observations, but naively remarks, after describing his 
observation of the already-known multiplication by divi- 
sion of the chlorophyll corpuscles of Hydra, “‘ after these 
observations the nature of our green corpuscles as Algz 
seems to me to be firmly established.” This seeming can 
only arise from the fact that Mr. Hamann is not acquainted 
with the characteristics either of Algze or of the chloro- 
phyll corpuscles of plants. 
A simple assertion that a nucleus and a cell-wall are 
present in the chlorophyll corpuscles of Hydra is all that 
Mr. Hamann gives us on this head; although his paper is 
illustrated by a plate, no nucleus and no cell-wall are 
figured by him. Were he able to adduce good evidence 
of the existence of either of these structures, the view 
which he has advocated would be materially advanced, | 
But this he is unable to do, because such structures do not 
exist. 
Mr. Hamann offers some observations on the occurrence 
of chlorophyll-corpuscles in the egg-cell of Hydra which 
lead him to assume that these corpuscles enter the egg- 
cell by “wandering” from the endoderm-cells. The 
figures and statements which he makes do not, in my 
opinion, tend necessarily to that conclusion. : 
Lastly, I would point out that the exceedingly variable 
form of the chlorophyll-corpuscles of Hydra and Spongilla 
which I have illustrated by figures in my memoir above 
cited, is not noticed by Mr. Hamann. This variability is 
quite inconsistent with the view that they are parasitic 
Alge. So also is the fact that these corpuscles are repre- 
sented by colourless corpuscles in the colourless varieties 
of Spongilla and Hydra which turn green when treated 
with sulphuric acid. 
It should be distinctly borne in mind that it is by no 
means necessary, supposing that the green corpuscles of 
Hydra are parasitic Algze, that a nucleus should be present 
in them, nor indeed a well defined cell wall. But when 
the presence of snch structures is asserted as evidence 
that these corpuscles are different in nature from the other- 
wise Closely similar corpuscles formed in the protoplasm 
of green plants, the question of the actual presence or 
absence of the nucleus and cell-wall becomes important, 
and must be definitely decided upon thorough histological 
evidence. 
So far it appears to me, as I have previously maintained, 
that there is no more and no less evidence for considering 
the green corpuscles of Hydra viridis as parasitic Alge, 
than there is for taking a similar view with regard to the 
green corpuscles in the leaf of an ordinary green plant. 
E. Ray LANKESTER 
NOTES 
WeEregret to notice that in Tuesday’s papers the death of Prof. 
Henry Draper of New York is telegraphed. We hope to be 
able to refer to his work in an early issue. 
THE Council of the British Association have nominated Mr. 
A. G. Vernon Harcourt, M.A., F..S., to the office of General 
Secretary of the Association, in the room of the late Prof. F. M. 
Balfour, 
MARINO PALMIERI, whose death we announced a fortnight 
ago, must not be confounded with his father, Luigi, the eminent 
director of the Vesuvius Observatory, who we are glad to be 
able to say is alive and well. 
THE death is announced, on November 11, of Dr. Franz 
Ritter von Kobell, Professor of Mineralogy and keeper of the 
mineralogical State collections at Munich, well known through 
his numerous mineralogical publications. He died at the 
age of seventy-nine years. 
M. JANSSEN has been sent to Oran to observe the transit of 
Venus from a physical point of view. 
WE have received a circular in reference* to the visit of the 
British Association in Montreal, containing the results of the 
recent meeting in that city, to which we have already referred. 
It is evident that the Canadians are determined to do all in their 
power to make the visit of the Association a success. ‘* The 
city of Montreal, which has a population of about 150,000 souls 
has,” the circular states, ‘‘twice entertained the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science; for the second 
time in August, 1882, when an attendance of more than 900 
members and Associates was registered, and the Association, 
with its nine sections, found ample accommodation in the build- 
ings of McGill University. The ordinary summer-passage is made 
in eight or nine days from Liverpool to Quebec, which city is 
connected with Montreal by two lines of rail, making the journey 
in six hours, and by river-steamers. From Montreal to Ottawa, 
the capital of the Dominion, is four hours by rail ; from Mon- 
treal to Toronto, thirteen hours; and to Niagara Falls, sixteen 
hours by rail. Montreal is in direct connection with Boston by 
two lines of rail, by which the journey is made in ten hours. 
There are also two lines connecting Montreal with New York 
city in thirteen hours, and one with New Haven in sixteen hours. 
It is expected that the American Association for the Advance- 
ment of Science will hold its meeting in 1884 in New Haven, 
or some other eastern city of the United States, at such a time 
