490 Mr. Valentine on the Structure and Development 



but at last they contain a little grumous matter. What becomes of the mother- 

 cell I am unable to say : I am inclined to think that a portion of it becomes 

 attached to the surface of each of the sporules, of which there are about forty 

 in each sac. 



The other bodies, or rather those which occupy the sacs at the lower part 

 of the involucrum, — for there is no difference between the two at the earliest 

 stage, except in position, — should have been described first, on account of their 

 being somewhat more advanced in point of development ; but as the changes 

 are rather more complex than those just described, I prefer taking them in 

 this order. The sporules (Tab. XXXV. fig. 31 & 32.) first enlarge, become 

 pellucid, and recede from each other just as the last-described (Tab. XXXV. 

 fig. 33.), but they do not appear to remain long in this stage, as it is very dif- 

 ficult to obtain them until nearly all the sporules have been ruptured from 

 some unknown cause (Tab. XXXV. fig. 38.). The shrivelled remains of the 

 ruptured sporules continue to be attached to each other by their stalks, and 

 the mother-cell remains perfect ; in short, no further change takes place, for 

 they may be found in this state in the same sac with the ripe sporules 

 (Tab. XXXV. fig. 42, a.). The two or three unruptured sporules, which are 

 single in each union, the other three being invariably ruptured (Tab. XXXV, 

 fig. 37.), enlarge, each struggling for the mastery, and it is not long before 

 one prevails, the smaller ones rupturing and passing into the same state as 

 those first ruptured (Tab. XXXV. fig. 38.). The sole remaining sporule now 

 enlarges rapidly, assumes a pyriform shape, and the mother-cell gradually 

 recedes from it by a still more rapid enlargement, except around the narrow 

 extremity to which the three ruptured sporules which form the union are 

 attached, where the mother-cell has contracted an adhesion. It appears that 

 this dilatation of the mother-cell is caused by a secretion of fluid between it 

 and the sporule, for if the cell be punctured the fluid will escape, and the cell 

 return by its elasticity to the same dimensions as the sporule. The three rup- 

 tured sporules, which up to this period remained attached to the growing 

 sporule, now disappear, and, as I have not been able to make an exact obser- 

 vation as to the manner of their disappearance, I cannot say positively whether 

 they have been absorbed or discharged through a rupture of the mother-cell. 

 That this li^st supposition is the correct one, I think may be inferred from the 



