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THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXXVII. 



ture become spores which on germination develop the sexual 

 plant. In 1898 Oltmanns presented the suggestion that the 

 filamentous growth from the female gamete was a true sporo- 

 phyte. Although we lack the confirmation required by the 

 close study of the details of nuclear activities, nevertheless the 

 theory is very satisfactory especially in its explanation of certain 

 peculiarities of this interesting process of development. 



The simplest sporophytes among the red alga; are illustrated 



by such forms as Nemalion (See Fig. 1, a, b, .c) and Batracho- 

 spermum. Here we have a cluster of short filaments many or 

 most of whose cells become spores. But among the higher red 

 algae the conditions are greatly complicated by certain cell 

 :ween the sporophytic growth and the filaments of 



