Bot .— Vol. I.] CAMPBELL— SPARGANIUM. 301 



egg-cell was sometimes in the same plane as the synergidae 

 (fig. 8), and sometimes it was lower down and a good deal 

 elongated (fig. 11). In either case it was nearly hyaline, 

 with only a relatively small amount of granular contents sur- 

 rounding the nucleus which is usually placed near the free 

 end of the ovum, i. e., the end which projects into the 

 embryo-sac (figs. 8, 11). The synergidae are alike, some- 

 what smaller than the egg and filled with densely granular 

 cytoplasm in which lies the small nucleus. All the nuclei 

 of the egg-apparatus have a very distinct nucleolus which 

 is especially conspicuous in material stained with anilin- 

 safranine. The rest of the nucleus, however, does not stain 

 strongly with this reagent, the nuclei preliminary to fertil- 

 ization appear to have very little chromatin. The nucleus 

 of the egg is somewhat larger than the synergidal nuclei 

 but otherwise closely resembles them. 



Above the synergidae there was seen in many specimens 

 what looked like the remains of the tapetal cells (fig. 8). 

 This mass stained strongly with Bismarck-brown but showed 

 little structure and probably represented the disorganized 

 remnants of one or more tapetal cells. As the younger 

 stages were lacking in my preparations the origin of this 

 body can only be conjectured. 



In none of the specimens of S. simplex were the separate 

 polar nuclei observed. The large endosperm-nucleus re- 

 sulting from their fusion is, however, conspicuous. It is 

 much larger than the other nuclei of the embryo-sac, and 

 has a very large nucleolus (figs. 10, 11). 



The antipodal end of the sac in this species is almost flat, 

 although there may be a slight depression where the antip- 

 odal cells are found. The early history of the latter could 

 not be followed, as the material was all too old; but at the 

 time the egg is mature, these cells are remarkable for their 

 very small size, which is in striking contrast to their later 

 development. Not infrequently where these cells had col- 

 lapsed in the process of embedding, they could not cer- 

 tainly be distinguished, and may very easily be overlooked. 

 There was nothing, however, to indicate that they are ever 



