52 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JULY 
looks like a normal gametophyte. The basal part of a somewhat 
older branch is shown in fig. 5, which is broader and does not seem — 
so closely related to archegonia, although near the cushion. Appar- 
ently any cell or group of cells may be rejuvenated and initiate this — 
branching. The cells in the neighborhood of fig. 4 are very large 
for cells in a position so near the apical region, and they contain 
unusually large food bodies, apparently oil “geleeae this may be 
a condition that leads to branching. 
Another type of gametophyte is shown in fig. 6. This prothallium 
does not branch and is 23 mm. long. There are few or no antheridia . 
on prothallia of this type except near the basal region, but the arche- — 
gonial cushion is unusually wide and thick, and has a broad row of 
archegonia along both margins, with more in the center. Trans- — 
versely, these rows have 1-5 archegonia very closely crowded together. 
In one gametophyte 16 mm. long, there were found by actual count — 
142 archegonia on one side of the cushion, with apparently as many — 
on the other side; so that instead of the usual small number of arche- — 
gonia, there were probably not far from 300 on this particular game- 
tophyte, and other gametophytes of this type. The production of | 
archegonia apparently goes on indefinitely, for the prothallia still — 
looked vigorous. : 
Antheridia and archegonia 
A rather complete series of stages in the development of antheridia 
and archegonia was examined, but most of them resembled the usual 
type. Two late antheridial stages are shown in figs. 7 and 8, the — 
former with the spermatogenous cells in mitosis, and the latter — 
with sperms almost mature. There are apparently 16 chromosomes, 
though none of the figures are in condition to permit absolute accuracy 
in counting. Asa rule, antheridia are found only on the basal region _ 
of old prothallia or on the branches, but occasionally one or two appeal — 
at any point on the gametophyte. In a few instances immature — 
antheridia were found among mature archegonia. An unexpected — 
feature in archegonial development is their appearance far back from — 
the growing point, so that young archegonia are found among the 
old ones. A peculiarity several times noted was two archegonia : 
with no wall between the egg cells, but with two complete necks; — 
otherwise nothing unusual was seen in their development. : 
