BRIBPER Aker. eo. 
THE OCCURRENCE OF TWO VENTERS IN THE ARCHE. 
GONIUM OF POLYTRICHUM JUNIPERINUM. 
THE interesting phenomenon ofa double venter in the archegonium 
of Polytrichum juniperinum was observed, in material sectioned and 
studied by the writer, in a course of comparative morphology and 
embryology of plants under the direction of Dr. Margaret C. Ferguson, 
of Wellesley College. 
The archegonium illustrated in the accompany- 
ing figure shows two distinct venters, the lower 
venter containing two nuclei, which probably rep- 
resent the egg cell and the ventral canal cell. The 
upper venter has doubtless been developed from 
the first neck canal cell and contains but a single 
nucleus. Directly above, in the neck of the arche- 
gonium, is the nucleus of the second neck canal cell. 
Previous to the time that these observations 
were made, no similar phenomenon had been noted 
as occurring in the archegonium of the Musci, but, 
while preparing this note for publication, the 
February number of the BoranicaL GAZETTE ap- 
peared, in which the “occurrence of two egg cells 
in the archegonium of Mnium” was described by 
Coker. 
There are two opinions held today regarding 
the origin of the neck canal cells. According to 
Campbell,? the neck canal cells are derived from 
the terminal cell cut off from the mother-cell Of — Base of archego- 
the archegonium, while Gayet? maintains that, in nium of Polytrichum 
the Musci as in the Hepaticae, the terminal cell s«miperinum showing 
does not give rise to the neck canal cells, but that irl hacracace 
"COKER, W. C., On the occurrence of two egg cells in the archegonium of 
Mnium. Bort. Gaz. 35: 136. 1903. 
*?CAMPBELL, D. H., Mosses and ferns 194. 1895. 
3GayeET, L. A., Recherches sur le développement de l’archegone chez les 
i 8 
Muscinées. Ann. Sci. Nat. Bot. VIII. 3: 161-258. 1897. 
1903] 141 
