ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
551 
(4) Chemical Changes (including Respiration and Fermentation). 
Germination of Oleaginous Seeds.* — According to M. Leclerc du 
Sablon, the reserve-substances of oily seeds, whether stored up in the 
embryo or in the endosperm, are chiefly oil and aleurone ; starch is but 
rarely found. In all the species examined the proportion of oil decreases 
regularly during the period of germination. By the action of a diastase 
the oil is transformed into fatty acids without any separation of glycerin. 
During germination these fatty acids, instead of accumulating, are them- 
selves transformed into carboliydates, especially into those belonging to 
the group of saccharoses. The saccharose is again converted, by the 
action of a diastase, into glucose, which is assimilated directly by the 
plant. Starch is also temporarily present as an intermediate product 
between oil and glucose. Starch and oil, as reserve-substances, give 
rise to the same assimilable products during the germination of the 
seed. 
B. CBYPTOGAMIA. 
Cryptogamia Vascularia. 
Metamorphosis of the Sporophyll.| — Herr H. Gliick argues against 
the theory of Prantl and Bower,! that the green leaf in Vascular 
Cryptogams is derived from the sporophyll by sterilisation of the tissues. 
He adduces a large variety of facts and observations in support of the 
view that the fern-leaf cannot have sprung from a sporangiferous struc- 
ture, and that the sporogone of mosses does not correspond to any stage 
in the development of ferns. 
The fertile fern-leaf may present three degrees of development as 
compared with the sterile leaf, viz. : — (1) The structure of the two may 
be the same, as in many Polypodiaceae ; (2) the sporophyll may differ 
from the foliage leaf only in the presence of special organs for the pro- 
tection of the sporanges ; (3) the sporophyll may differ from the foliage 
leaf in its morphological and anatomical structure. The various forms 
of the apparatus for protecting the sporanges — hairs, indusium, pits, the 
recurring of the margin of the frond — are described in great detail in 
the various orders of Vascular Cryptogams. 
The changes which have taken place in the conversion of a sterile 
leaf into a sporophyll are various. The lamina has frequently become 
shorter and narrower ; it may also be more deeply divided. The spongy 
parenchyme frequently disappears more or less completely; and the 
number of stomates is always less. The stalk of the leaf often becomes 
longer when it is converted into a sporophyll, and the position of the 
lamina more erect. In the Equisetaceae, Marsileaceae, and Salviniaceae, 
the metamorphosis has proceeded much further than in ferns. 
Prof. F. 0. Bower § replies to Gluck’s criticism, and charges him 
with having in several instances misrepresented his statements. 
Especially he disclaims having anywhere suggested that the Lycopo- 
diaceae are descended from the Equisetaceae. 
* Rev. Gen. de Bot. (Bonnier), vii. (1895) pp. 145-65, 205-15, 258-69. Cf. this 
Journal, ante , p. 75. f Flora, lxxx. (1895) pp. 303-87 (1 pi. and 40 figs.). 
X Cf. this Journal, ante, p. 75. § Tom. cit., pp. 487-8. 
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