490 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [june 



With this as a basis one is not surprised to find him 

 conjugation as a character of the genus. 



( 



may 



The writer, however, thus far 



mono 



Bessey (4) figures a case which he calls cross-conjugation. This 

 figure is reproduced here (pi. XXIII, fig. 7). It is to be noted that 

 in his description no mention is made of cross-conjugation, although 

 it is made later (Bessey 5). If the figure is complete, it is by no 



means 

 cells. 



in filament A can be explained 



formation 



conjugating tube. West (29, fig. 64) shows a case of false cross- 

 conjugation occurring in this manner. The idea is further sup- 

 ported by the observation of the writer, and diagrammed on 



XXIII 



filament 



form seems 



nant to the spherical. This fact was observed by Bessey, as he 

 states that the zygote of S. protecta is oval in shape, but those of 

 S. majuscula are spherical, and that the hybrid between these two 

 assumes the oval shape characteristic of S. protecta. He does 

 not apply this, however, to the zygote formed in filament A , which 

 is spherical. If the cell referred to is in cross with anothei 



filament 



filament should be shown. The figuring 



sufficient 



Furthermore 



is undoubtedly a forced condition. The strenuous efforts of 

 5. majuscula to reproduce are shown in another case cited by 

 Bessey (6), in which this species tries to hybridize with Mesocarpus. 

 Bennett and Murray (3, p. 266) say "as DeBary (ii) has 

 pointed out, . + . . one of the two filaments is entirely emptied, 

 while the other is completely filled with zygospores." To this 

 they have added a footnote "Hassall, however, figures and asserts 

 to the contrary." 



West (30, p. 125) refers to the footnote of Bennett and 



Murray, but maintain- that the phenomenon is rare. He state- 

 that he has seen but a single case, and that was in S. gracilis 

 (West 29, p. 47). G. S. West, in a more recent personal com- 







