No. 430.] THE EMBRYO SAC OF ANGIOSPERMS. 783 
and become multinucleate. An increase in the number of 
antipodal cells was observed as a regular phenomenon in vari- 
ous grasses, by Hofmeister, and has been noted also by later 
observers, — Cannon! found in Avena fatua as many as thirty- 
six. There are in these cases the original three antipodals 
which subsequently increase by division, this occurring before 
the egg is fecundated. 
The greatest number of antipodal cells yet recorded occurs 
in Sparganium simplex (Fig. 4), where there may ultimately 



B 
Fic. g: dof Spatii b gitt ef oli : em. , embryo; 5., e nlarged basal 
CTR EEA x 6. B, b lon of th f th more enlarged C, the 
large basal endosperm nucleus, : a, and the ordinary ones, 4, from the embryo sac of er 
be 150 or more. At the time of fertilization there are but 
three, small and inconspicuous antipodal cells ; but after fertili- 
zation these increase rapidly in size and begin to divide actively, 
forming a very conspicuous hemispherical mass of cells at the. 
base of the embryo sac. This large group of antipodal cells 
develops while the endosperm is still rudimentary and is doubt- 
less of great physiological importance. 
1 Cannon. A Morphological Study of the Flower and meee of the Wild 
Oat, Proc. California Acad. of Sciences, third series, vol. i, No. 10, 
