250 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [OCTOBER 
mention of it is frequently found in works on the morphology 
of the group. Occasionally I have found isolated balls of this 
pectiniferous deposit lying in the periplasm. These observa- 
tions in a measure confirm the generally accepted belief that the 
outer wall is laid down by the periplasm, a view originally pro- 
posed by DeBary (1863). 
Sometimes an antheridial tube penetrates an oogonium that 
has not yet differentiated periplasm from ooplasm ( fig. 43). In 
such case it often becomes coated with the characteristic pectin- 
iferous wall of the species. More frequently it is aborted, 
reaching a length not greater than one-fifth the diameter of the 
oogonium. In such cases the adjacent oogonial walls and the 
remains of the aborted tube receive a pectiniferous coat (/igs. 
44-40). These phenomena tend to prove that undifferentiated 
cytoplasm of the oogonium has the ability to form the pectin- 
iferous layer, and that in the absence of the plasmoderma of 
the oosphere it is apparently a matter of indifference what 
plasmoderma is to receive the deposit, although the pectin is 
laid down in contact with or by means of some plasmoderma or 
tonoplast in all cases. 
Oogonia containing many small pectiniferous spheres (fi. 46) 
are quite frequently found, but the origin of the spheres cannot 
with certainty be determined. They are always accompanied 
by an aborted antheridial tube, and it may well be that these 
pectiniferous spheres represent deposits upon the lining mem- 
brane of vacuoles, thus emphasizing the similarity between the 
tonoplast and the plasmoderma in accord with the view of 
DeVries and Pfeffer. The fact that an aborted antheridial 
tube is present suggests that a stimulus may emanate from the 
antheridium which arouses the protoplasm to pectin production. 
This idea receives further support when it is recognized that the 
formation of the pectiniferous deposit begins and is most promi- 
nent near the antheridial tube (fig. 44). It thus often results 
in the tube becoming incrusted in a pectiniferous wall. Fig. 45 
represents an oogonium prematurely penetrated by two anthe- 
ridial tubes from opposite ends. These tubes have aborted, but 
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