INTRODUCTION 5 
The work of perhaps the most interest which has recently ap- 
peared is that of Dr. Gabrielle Balicka-Iwanowska + ('99) who has 
studied the behavior of the embryo-sac in the Scrophulariaceae, Ges- 
neraceae, Pedalinaceae, Plantaginaceae, Campanulaceae, and Dip- 
saceae. All these forms possess a more or less thickened single 
integument. Micropylar and chalazal haustoria, which are here 
for the first time shown to be of endospermic origin, penetrate 
more or less deeply into the integument which, under such condi- 
tions, is said to be devoid of any vascular tissue. Those plants 
which possess the thickest integument have the most highly de- 
veloped haustoria, and these in turn have nuclei whose size and 
appearance show them to be active in nutrition. Their limiting 
membranes, moreover, are quickly “‘gelatinized” or become 
* mucilaginous." The haustoria, in some cases, reach the funicle 
(Torenia) and even the placenta (Scoparia). In many species a 
special nutritive tissue is found in the chalazal region of the ovule 
and the haustorium is for the most part in direct relation with 
such tissue. The author does not regard the “ tapetes"' as merely 
protective to the embryo-sac, as Hegelmaier held, but holds that 
they probably secrete a ferment and exercise a digestive function. 
The antipodal cells, when present, are regarded as having only a 
less important mission, aud are at best evanescent. 
While Dr. Balicka-Iwanowska’s paper was in preparation at 
München, Mlle. M. Goldflus* (99), was engaged in the laboratory 
of the University of Geneva, in a similar investigation with espe- 
cial reference to the Compositae. Her conclusion as to the phys- 
iological value of the “epithelium,” the “tapetes” of Balicka- 
Iwanowska, agrees with that of the latter, an opinion favored, 
though not fully subscribed to, by Schwere. She furthermore at- 
tributes to the antipodal cells considerable importance as agents 
in nutrition. These cells attain in some of the species studied a 
considerable size (Leucanthemum lacustre, Chrysanthemum Leucan- 
themum, Helianthus Maximiliani) and are interpreted as a haus- 
torium (sucoir) inasmuch as they penetrate the axial part of the 
ovule, and stand in relation with a mass of conductive tissue which 
t Contribution à l'étude du sac embryonnaire chez certain Gamopetales. Flora, 
86: 47 
* Sur la structure et les fonctions de l’assise épithéliale et des antipodes chez les 
Composées. Jour. de Bot. 12: 374. 1898; 13: 9, 47,87. 1899. 
