260 



I'LAXT STUDIES 



tinguish them from tlie ciliato(l sperms, or spermatozoids, 

 which have the power of locomotion, these motionless male 

 gametes of the lied Algas are usually called spcrmatia 

 (singular, uperinatinni) (Fig. 22.S, .1, .s-). 



The oogonium is very pe- 

 culiar, being differentiated 

 into two regions, a bulbous 

 base and a hairdike jDrocess 

 {trifhdffi/ne), the whole struc- 

 ture resembling a Hask with a 

 long, narrow neck, excepting 

 that it is closed (Fig. 328, A, 

 oj). Within the Imlbous j)art 

 the egg, or its equivalent, is 

 organized ; a si)ermatiiim at- 

 taches itself to the trichogyne 

 (Fig. 228, J, .y) ; at the point of 

 contact the two walls become 

 perforated, and the contents 

 of the spermatium thus enter 

 the trichogyne, and so reach 

 the bulbous base of the oogo- 

 nium. The above account 

 represents the very simplest 

 conditions of the process of 

 fertilization in this group, and 

 gives no idea of the great and 

 puzzling complexity exhibited 

 by tlie majority of forms. 



After fertilization the trich- 

 ogyne wilts, and the bull)ous 

 l)a.se ill one way or another de- 

 velops a conspicuous structure 

 called tlie njtitwarp (Figs. 228, 229), which is a case con- 

 taining asexual spores ; in other words, a spore case, or kind 

 of sporangium. In the life history of a red alga, there- 



