Fishes. 5131 



Almost all the zoospores that I observed resumed their globular form 

 soon after escaping, and ceased to display motile force in the course 

 of six to ten minutes, after which they became stationary. 



To illustrate the rapidity of the formation of these capsules, I may 

 mention that a tuft of barren tubuli removed late at night and placed 

 for observation in a glass cell, had developed in great luxuriance its 

 fructification by next morning (within twelve hours), and from this I 

 obtained the varieties of globular mother cells, and those with double 

 and triple cells, and also those remarkable monstrous forms in which 

 the barren tube grows again above the apex of the capsule. Some of 

 the barren tubes grow to a very great size and thickness, and developed 

 spores within their substance : this, however, was extremely rare. I 

 also saw such a tube emit four spores from its extremity, but they dis- 

 played little motile power, and floated off only a short distance after 

 their escape. I cannot decide as to these spores having cilia. Thurot 

 describes their having two ; Alexander Braun found only one single 

 short cilium. I did not succeed in getting them ; probably I might with 

 higher forms or with the aid of chemical reagents, which latter process 

 I avoided, as I wished chiefly to observe the development of the plant. 

 It is perhaps too often assumed that cilia are indispensable for pro- 

 ducing motion in cells. T obtained very perfect views of the mode of 

 propagation of the spores. Many of them multiplied by a process of 

 gemmation exactly like the cells of yeast; and the freshly-formed cell 

 might by observation be seen with its fine granular contents aggre- 

 gating together and forming larger masses, and even transparent 

 glistening globules of oil. So rapid was this budding process that 

 the same parent cell had occasionally two, three and four buds arriving 

 at various parts of its surface and in different states of development. 

 As they acquired a bulk nearly equal to that of the parent cell, I could 

 generally observe the formation of a division occurring between the 

 two ; and this rapid evolution of cells soon formed dense masses of 

 vegetation, which, by a little care, could be seen growing under the 

 microscope. 



I would wish to direct attention to a very interesting mode of 

 development which I have procured sketches of — the formation of thin 

 hair-like shoots proceeding from a parent cell, and at its extremity 

 the reproduction of the cell-form again resumed, in its usual condition 

 prepared for active fissile development. I would merely state, in con- 

 nection with this, that the growth of some forms of mould appears to 

 be closely analogous to what I have described. Thus I have seen 

 similar thread-like processes connecting the sporules of the Ascophora 



