6 THE COMPARATIVE EMBRYOLOGY OF THE RUBIACEAE 
in turn is in a similar relation with the vascular bundle. Mlle. 
Goldflus bases her opinion not alone on the position of the anti- 
podals, for she finds in the cyanophily of these cells evidence that 
they represent “ l'intermediaire entre le sac embryonnaire et les 
substances digestibles élaborées par l'ovule." 
The Rubiaceae in particular have received very little attention. 
Schleiden * appears to have been the earliest observer whose obser- 
vations may be regarded as pertinent to the present work. He 
described the ovule in the Rubiaceae as anatropous (gemmula an- 
atropa) and as consisting of a naked nucellus (nucleus nudus), 2. e., 
without any integument (p. 304, /.c.). As Warming points out, 
it is easily understood how the single thick integument with the 
very delicate micropylar canal would have misled the earlier ob- 
servers. These results seem to have remained without modifica- 
tion till the appearance of his “ Grundriss," 1 in which, however, it 
is further stated (p. 163) that in many Rubiaceae the integument 
remains at least as a thin skin which clings to the endosperm, from 
which it easily falls off in tatters, as in Coffea. 
The work of Hofmeister, § as is well known, coveted a very 
large field, and of necessity the treatment of any given group was 
relatively brief. The results of his work on the Rubiaceae are 
quite brief and faulty. It would, however, be very unfair to 
criticise him, on account of the difficulties presented by the 
materials, especially in view of the methods then used, methods 
which, by the way, in the hands of a master like Hofmeister 
gave surprising results. According to this pioneer in embryol- 
ogy the antipodals are absent from Galum, Asperula and 
Crucianella, in which the embryo-sac is attenuated and swollen 
at the micropyle end. The embryo-sac is quickly filled with 
endosperm after fertilization has taken place. Within the endo- 
sperm, the proembryo develops by forming transverse walls. 
The cells of a filamentous structure thus formed produce numer- 
ous branches made up of short series of cells of which the outer- 
nige Blicke auf die Entwickelungsgeschichte des vegetabilischen Organismus 
bei den toas: Wiegmann's Archiv 89, 414. 
De Povule. Ann, sc. nat. Bot. MI x: 124 18 
Grundriss der Botanik. Leipzig Engelmann, 1850. 
& Neure Beobachtungen über Embryobildung der Phanerogamen. Pringsh. 
Jahrb, 1:82. 1888. 
tcc ETE TS Fr Hr 
