CR acid 
ar. 
my 
1903] GAMETOPHYTES AND EMBRYO OF TAXODIUM 27 
conspicuous as in Taxodium, and in no case has a second kino- 
plasmic body been noticed in the lower part of the archegonium. 
Just before the central cell nucleus prepares to divide the kino- 
plasmic bodies undergo a marked change. They increase greatly 
in size, the central part becoming thinner, until finally the denser 
material, which has by this time become confined to a peripheral 
position, is broken up into more or less separate groups. In the 
upper end, one of these groups lying nearest the nucleus becomes 
most conspicuous, while the others become less and less distinct, 
their fibers finally arranging themselves into the immense aster 
which radiates from the inner side of the nucleus. Fibers extend 
around the nucleus from the center of the aster and merge insen- 
sibly into the nuclear wall (fig. 78). The lower kinoplasmic 
mass has also become broken up into separate parts, forming an 
incomplete ring, and during the activities in the upper part con- 
nected with the cutting off of the ventral canal nucleus these 
separated groups below become likewise extremely active and 
fill the whole base of the archegonium with conspicuous figures 
of various shapes, such as fans, asters, double asters, test-tube 
cleaners, etc. In fact the whole kinoplasmic content of the 
archegonium seems as if electrified. A few of these structures 
are shown in figs. 90-92. 
Chamberlain (’99) figures such radiations in the egg of Pinus 
Laricio after the formation of the ventral canal nucleus, and con- 
siders them as parts of the enormously developed spindle of that 
division. In Taxodium, however, the kinoplasmic radiations in 
the lower part of the archegonium are in no way connected with 
the spindle above, although they are most active at the time of 
its formation. The function of these kinoplasmic masses is 
obscure, and I can suggest no explanation unless it be that the 
great length of the archegonia in Taxodium and the fact that it 
is Principally at the end farthest away from the nucleus that they 
are exposed to the sheath cells may make it advantageous to 
have a more definite mechanism for the regulation of the entrance 
of the plastic material at this end. 
[Zo be concluded.| 
