116 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [AUGUST 
played by the nucleolus in the formation of the spindle. He 
reviews the present knowledge of the subject, and while acknowl- 
edging the chromatin character of the nucleolus in a few cases, 
expresses himself as strongly inclined toward the view that in 
the higher plants at least it is of kinoplasmic or spindle-building 
material. Nucleoli of chromatin character have been described 
in Corallina by Davis (’98), in Spirogyra by Mitzkewitsch ('85), 
in Bignonia by Duggar (’99), and in a number of other plants. 
That the nucleolus of the central cell in Taxodium is directly 
transformed into chromosomes seems to be evident from the 
figures given, and I think we may be equally sure of the intra- 
nuclear origin of the spindle. The kinoplasmic mass at the tip 
of the spindle seems to serve merely as a point of attachment 
for the spindle fibers, its numerous radiations making a firm 
foundation for the orientation of the spindle, as suggested by 
Murrill (’or). 
The nucleus of the central cell, just before its division, is 
generally situated not far from the tip of the archegonium, but 
it is often found as much as a third of the way down. In such 
cases the central vacuole, which is now much smaller, lies 
nearer the base of the archegonium. The wall of the nucleus is 
at the very surface of the cell ( figs. 66, 78), and it is often 
impossible to distinguish any protoplasm between nucleus and 
surface. In figs. 88 and 89g there is to be noticed in the center 
of the spindle a broad zone which is composed of numerous 
granules. In Flemming’s triple this zone stains a deeper violet 
than the other parts of the spindle, and occupies the position at 
which we might expect to find acell plate. No cell plate is 
formed, however, and the whole spindle fades away into the 
cytoplasm of the cell. At the surface end of the spindle shown 
in fig. 87 a small aster has appeared. The daughter nuclei are 
formed in the centers of these asters (fig. 88), and as they 
increase in size the kinoplasm is collected more and more on 
the sides toward the spindle (figs. 89, go). In this way the 
egg and ventral canal nuclei are both furnished with a tuft 
of kinoplasm on their inner faces. Other tufts may be located 
at different positions around the egg nucleus (fg. go), but in 
