14 SPERMATOGENESIS AND FECUNDATION OF ZAMIA. 
injury to the developing séxual organs. Arrangements were conse- 
quently made by which shipments of cones of the two species were 
received at regular intervals throughout the developing season. The 
cones of Zama jloridana were obtained at Miami, Fla. Two of these 
cones were mailed to the writer three times a week during the period 
found necessary to secure the desired stages. The cones of Zamia 
pumila were collected at New Smyrna and Daytona, Fla., and these 
were gathered and mailed to the writer twice a week, two or more 
being sent each time. In no case was the material injured in ship- 
ment so that any change in development could be observed. Cones 
remained fresh for a week or more after their receipt, and the normal 
process of pollen-tube development seemed to go on as usual until the 
seeds became very dry. This would normally be expected, as the 
developing pollen tubes derive their nutrition entirely from the 
nucellus, and the seeds are protected by their location, in the interior 
of the closed hairy cone, from any loss of moisture. All material 
fixed and utilized in the investigation was cut out and prepared imme- 
diately on the receipt of the cones, being taken thus about three days 
after the cones were cut from the plants. At several periods in the 
development visits were made to the regions where the plants grew, 
and absolutely fresh material was gathered and fixed in abundance for 
comparison. In all cases, however, material mailed to the writer gave 
results exactly the same as that cut and fixed in the field. In many 
cases cones were kept in the laboratory for one or two weeks after 
being received, and were examined at intervals to note how iong they 
would remain satisfactory for study. In the examination of such 
cones the writer frequently found the spermatozoids living and moving 
in perfectly normal condition the same as those examined in the field 
a half hour after they were cut from the plant. The writer was located 
at Eustis, Fla., while the material was being shipped to him and pre- 
pared, but mail from Miami and New Smyrna required two days to 
make the journey, and could have been sent just as satisfactorily to 
Washington or New York. The facts regarding the shipment of the 
cones are given in some detail, as it is thought that Zama should | 
become a standard object of investigation and demonstration in the 
botanical laboratories of universities in the Eastern United States, 
and no trouble should be experienced in obtaining cones in good con- 
dition for study at any point within a three or even four days’ railway 
journey of Miami, Fla., where abundant cones of Zamia floridana can 
be obtained. This is by far the best species for study, as a much 
larger percentage of the ovules are fecundated and a much larger 
number of pollen tubes are found developing in each ovule than in the 
ease of Z. pumila. Further than this, the plants of Zama pumila are 
more scattered, and it requires a considerable amount of work to secure — 
any great number of cones. Zama floridana, however, is very abun- 
