(314) 
morphological problems involved in this study are of less 
importance, in the writer’s estimation, than are those of a 
physiological character. The structure of the embryo, the 
growth and character of the endosperm, the distribution of 
nutritive materials in the ovule and the placenta, all are mat- 
ters of importance; an understanding of the physiological 
conditions obtaining in the ovule is no small aid to the inter- 
pretation of various structures and phenomena, and this con- 
ception is becoming more and more the dominant idea in 
modern investigations. ‘‘An account of organic evolution, 
in its more special aspects, must be essentially an account of 
the interactions of structures and functions,” are the words of 
Herbert Spencer, quoted and emphasized by Goebel in his 
Organography. The fruitfulness of this thought is brought 
more strikingly to our attention when we consider the trend 
of later researches and the character of their results. 
Treub® in his memorable work, (Votes sur 1’ embryogénie 
de quelques Orchidées, emphasized the thought that the man- 
ner In which the embryos absorb the plastic substances cer- 
tainly deserves to attract attention, and further, that the 
problem should be elucidated by embryological researches. 
While, as has already been said, this view has dominated 
much of the embryological investigation of more recent 
years, the importance of the problem was recognized before 
the publication of the work just cited, as Treub himself 
points out. Hofmeister “ (1849) saw and described antipodal 
cells and attributed to them the function of elaborating food 
for the young embryo, although in a later work” (1867) he 
says that the antipodals are meaningless in the development 
of the embryo and that after fertilization they develop no fur- 
ther but are themselves soon dissolved. ‘Twenty-five years 
later, however, Westermaier® takes up the subject of the an- 
tipodals and in conclusion says: ‘‘In the development of 
the so-called antipodal cells in the embryo-sac of angio- 
sperms, contrary to former views, one has to deal with an 
anatomical-physiological apparatus and not with a useless 
rudimentary structure which would be incomprehensible ex- 
