224 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [apna 
abundance of material which shows the ovules in all stages 
before and at the time of fertilization, and also all stages after 
that represented in fig. zo, I was able to find, after prolonged 
and careful search, only three cases which show the origin of 
the embryos, but happily they leave no doubt on the subject. | 
think this stage must be passed through very rapidly, and pe- 
haps at night, when none of my material was collected. 
In stages earlier than fig. ro, the pollen tube can usually be 
seen in the micropylar region of the nucellus, but an egg ctl : 
cannot be detected. Instead there regularly lies in its position 
a crumpled mass of protoplasm (fig. 72, 74, pr.), shrunken 
my material by the weak alcohol used to preserve it. I thik 2 
| 
the egg cell disappears early in the development of the ovule,2 E 
point which will be cleared up by a complete study of the devel- | 
opment of the embryo sac, now being made by one of abe: 
students. At all events there is certainly no egg cell present # : 
any of my preparations at the period when the embryo building 
begins. The nucellus cells near the pollen tube are rich ek : 
tents, and in one case ( fig. 12) I have found these beginte 
ig 
to bud out intotheembryo sac. That these represent the er 
ning of the formation of the micropylar mass, I think there es 7 
be no question. It is precisely in this way that the at 
tious embryos originate in Funkia and other cases, 4 des - 
so fully and clearly by Strasburger. In another case te ‘as ; 
there are present not only the richly protoplasmic a mes 
near the pollen tube, here, however, not budding, but ee 
nucellus cells a little removed and separated by wh: aise : 
with cells rather poor in contents; and these cells with al . 
tents are also distinctly budding out (fig. 13; #): pag 
believe there can be no doubt, are the beginning . pie 
standing embryos ; it is quite probable that at first ~ 08 
tinuous with those near the pollen tube, but are eit 
them by the growth in length of the embryo ee 
time is very rapid. At all events they are nucellus i. 
Society for Plant Morphology and Physiology, Dec. 29, pase : . a 3 
the three cases next to be described, which prove the origin to be 
