490 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JUNE 
in the fact that the spindle of division of the former is always bipolar, while 
that of the latter may be multipolar at the beginning, and may or may not 
become bipolar. 
Throughout the paper few references are made to the work done by others 
along these same lines. While the work is very similar to (and in some 
cases a repetition of) that done by Schaffner on A//ium Cefa and published 
by him in the latter part of last year, no reference is made to it.—OTIs W 
CALDWELL. 
THE RECENT note by Nawaschin ® on the peculiar behavior of the male 
cells in Lidium Martagon has called out a more extended paper by Guignard? 
upon the same subject. The preliminary statements of Nawaschin are con- 
firmed, and the presentation of good figures adds to the conclusiveness of the 
demonstration. 
the two male nuclei, one fuses with that of the egg, while the other, 
probably the first one to leave the pollen tube, passes on to fuse with one of 
the polar nuclei. This union is generally with the upper polar, but if the 
lower one happens to be more conveniently situated the male nucleus will be 
attracted to it. Hence the process cannot be explained by the fact that the 
two equivalent male nuclei are attracted respectively by the oosphere nucleus 
and its sister, the upper polar. In either case the ultimate fusion of all three 
nuclei is recorded. 
A case figured in which the male nucleus, coiled like a closely compressed 
letter S, lies in the angle between the fusing polars, is cited as presenting a 
condition which, with the less perfect technique of eight years ago, might 
ave been taken fora pair of fusing centrosomes. Possibly some will not 
see clearly how such a body could be cut so as to show the ‘wo pairs of fusing 
centers on opposite sides of the polar nuclei, as they have been figured in the 
familiar “quadrille.” The new figures leave us still in the dark upon this 
point. 
The fusion nucleus, whether of oospore or endosperm, preserves the exter- 
nal marks of its dual or triple nature, even in prophase stages. Under such 
conditions as have been described, the increased number of chromosomes in 
endosperm nuclei may find an easy explanation. 
male nuclei are described as long and variously twisted bodies, many 
of them presenting appearances which, as noted by Nawaschin, suggest a 
possible motility. While they are devoid of cilia and cytoplasm, they never- 
theless deserve to be called antherozoids. 
It may be of interest to call attention to somewhat similar observations | 
8 Bot. Cent. 77:62. 1899. 
9Sur les anthérozoides et la double copulation sexuelle chez les végétaux angio- 
spermes. Comptes Rendus 128:1-8. Apr. 1899. 
