1900 | FERTILIZATION OF ALBUGO CANDIDA 3°97 
A, blitt there are many such; in A. candida the number becomes 
reduced to two. 
Although the oosphere of Albugo bliti is in one sense a 
gamete, we should be careful to note the peculiarities that make 
such a designation loose and undesirable. In reality, this 
structure, which was called a compound oosphere by Mr. Stevens 
(99), is made up of many gametes (sexual nuclei) acting 
cooperatively in a common mass of cytoplasm. It may appear 
desirable to some to give a name to such a structure, one that 
shall express the idea of sexuality, although it may modify the 
usual conception of a gamete. The writer suggests the term 
coenogamete as applicable to a multinucleate mass of protoplasm, 
whose individual nuclei are sexual elements, 
Let us think of the sexual processes of the mould in this 
light. The two elements that unite to form the zygospore are 
multinucleate. It is possible that some or many of these nuclei 
are sexual in function (this awaits investigation), and if this be 
true the fusing masses of protoplasm will illustrate admirably the 
writer's idea of coenogametes. The sexual nuclei are gametes 
in the strict sense of the word, and the cells that contain them 
are gametangia. 
It seems to the writer that a standpoint is presented which 
may be of very great service in the investigations that will be 
necessary to clear up the peculiar difficulties of this field of 
research. Although the subject must be approached almost 
Sorel theoretically and tentatively, he ventures to suggest 
some possibilities to await the verdict of future studies. 
a. “pies that the oospheres of the. Feronosporales and 
ace a etek ¢ regarded as homologous with similar structures 
ea : 7 is conceivable that the degree of differentiation 
iis eu. : € oosphere may have arisen entirely independ- 
Mitkas. a after the fungal ancestors of these groups had 
e chlorophyll-bearing thallophytes. 
et us Suppose a group of fungi with gametangia that dis- 
cay gametes which fuse in pairs in the water after the 
© Swarm spores of many alge. Such forms might 
char 
Man 
