28 THE OPHIOGLOSSALES 



Staining which he employed, the blepharoplast was not clearly evident. I have 

 examined the developing spermatozoids in this species, using the material which 

 Professor Jeffrey was so kind as to send me, but employing the double stain of 

 safranine and gentian violet, which was used in the study of Ophtoglossum. While 

 the differentiation was inferior to that of Ophtoglossum, where the material was 

 fixed with Flemming's solution, nevertheless the presence of the blepharoplast was 

 unmistakable. 



The spermatocytes are only about half as large as those of Ophioglossum 

 pendulum, and the spermatozoids correspondingly smaller; hence less favorable 

 for the study of details. It is evident, however, that the changes in the nucleus and 

 blepharoplast are essentially the same as in Ophtoglossum (plate 2, figs. 34 to 37). 

 The nucleus, however, becomes much more elongated and the spermatozoids are 

 more slender, in both of which respects it shows a resemblance to the spermatozoids 

 of the typical ferns. 



The study of the free spermatozoids was confined to those which happened to 

 have become fixed within the open antheridium and within the venter of recently 

 opened archegonia. These were in some cases very satisfactorily fixed and stained, 

 and showed very well indeed the general form of the spermatozoid. The cilia, 

 however, were not as a rule very well fixed, and while they are evidently numerous 

 their number could not be made out. 



Bruchmann's figures (fig. 8, Z)) of the free spermatozoid of Botrychtum lunarta 

 agree closely in form and size with those of B. vtrgtntanum. In both species the 

 vesicle attached to the spermatozoid is more distinct than in Ophtoglossum, and 

 in this respect also the spermatozoid shows a likeness to the true ferns. 



THE ARCHEGONIUM. 



The archegonium in the Ophioglossaceae is very much like that of the typical 

 ferns in its general development. The mother cell of the archegonium, like that of 

 the antheridium, is first divided by a periclinal wall into an outer cover cell, which 

 later gives rise to the four rows of neck cells, and an inner cell which, as in the typical 

 ferns, divides again by a transverse wall into a lower or basal cell and a central cell, 

 the latter subsequently giving rise to the egg cell and the canal cells. A marked 

 feature in the archegonium of the Ophioglossaceae is the inconspicuous character 

 of the ventral canal cell, which very often it is impossible to show, and it is possible 

 that in some cases the ventral canal cell may not be formed at all, although I think 

 this is doubtful. In general the archegonium is much alike in the three genera, but 

 the neck is much shorter in Ophioglossum than in Botrychtum or Helminthostachys. 



THE ARCHEGONIUM OF OPHIOGLOSSUM. 



My own studies of the development of the archegonium of Ophioglossum were 

 based mainly upon a study oi Ophioglossum pendulum. Only a very small number of 

 the young archegonia was secured in O. moluccanum, and so it was impossible to 

 make a complete study in this species. Lang accurately figures several stages of 

 the archegonium in Ophtoglossum pendulum, and Bruchmann has described quite 

 completely its development in O. vulgatum. Bruchmann failed to see the two 

 nuclei of the neck canal cell which Lang correctly figures for 0. pendulum. These 

 two nuclei are invariably present in both O. pendulum and O. moluccanum, and it 

 is to be expected that they will also be found in 0. vulgatum, as they are constantly 

 present also in Botrychtum virgintanum and in all of the ferns that have been 

 accurately examined. Neither Lang nor Bruchmann saw the ventral canal cell, 

 which is exceedingly difficult to demonstrate. 



