380 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [MAY 
pound grains are formed as follows. Each large vacuole is com- 
posed of two to five secondary ones. In each of the latter a small 
starch grain is formed, the several grains making the compound 
grain. As this grain disappears, an infiltration of the green pig- 
ment takes place and thus a chloroplast is formed. BELZUNG 
made most of his observations upon fresh material and used iodine 
green for his staining. 
Meyer (6), after his thorough investigation of the struc- 
ture and nature of the chloroplasts, reached the conclusion that 
the origin of the chromatophores does not take place in the young 
plant cells, but that they are derived from other cells in which 
they previously existed, and that they increase in number by the 
division of those already present. 
ScHIMPER (7) found chromatophores present in the embryo 
sac and egg of numerous phanerogams. Although. his observa- 
tions were rather meager, he concluded that the chloroplasts thus 
present in the young embryo were not reabsorbed in the ripening 
seed, but that they merely become colorless and lose their function. 
Upon germination, after they have again taken on the green color, 
they become functional. 
Brepow (8) examined a large number of green, yellowish, and 
colorless seeds, and came to the conclusion that chloroplasts were 
present in all of them, although they stain very poorly and are 
hard to detect. He studied the seeds of Pisum sativum, Robinia 
Pseudacacia, Cucurbita Pepo, Acer crataegifolium, Ipomoea splen- 
dens, Pinus austriaca, and Lupinus luteus, both in the fresh condi- 
tion and after the treatment with reagents. The sections of the 
fresh seeds were mounted in cell sap or in weak glycerin. Good 
results in staining the chloroplasts were obtained by treating the 
sections for several days with a concentrated solution of picric 
acid. This colored all the proteid material yellow, but the chloro- 
plasts showed a deeper stain than the other cell contents. In sec- 
tions treated with picric acid, washed with water, and then stained 
with hematoxylin, the chloroplasts also showed well. BREDOW 
found that the chloroplasts of the seed increased during germi- 
nation by simple fission, and also by a division of one chloroplast 
into as many as ten or twelve smaller ones by numerous irregular 
