ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 
105 
of phenomena was observed ; but the granules which accompany the 
nucleus are not spherical, but crescent-shaped. 
Similar bodies accompanying the nucleus aud staining strongly with 
fuchsin have been observed also in the Characeae ; and the author points 
out their probable analogy to the subsidiary nuclei (. Nebenhorper ) ob- 
served in the spermatozoa of the salamander. 
Mesophyll of Ferns.'* — Miss M. E. Gloss finds in the structure of 
the mesophyll useful generic characters for Ferns. She states that in 
any genus the number of cells in thickness of the mesophyll is constant ; 
the presence of chlorophyll in the epiderm is characteristic of a genus ; 
the relative size and shape of the air-cavities is constant ; the shape and 
arrangement of the cells is nearly constant ; the presence of palisade 
tissue and the number of cells in its depth are also constant. Those 
genera which have no palisade tissue have chlorophyll in the epiderm. 
No connection could be detected between the form of the cells and the 
intensity of the light. In five species of Adiantum examined there was 
no palisade tissue ; the cells of both the lower and the upper epiderm 
contain chlorophyll ; the air-cavities are relatively large and numerous ; 
the mesophyll is two cells in thickness. In seven species of Nephrolepis 
there was a palisade tissue of two layers, no chlorophyll in the epiderm 
(except in N. molle ) ; the air-cavities are small ; the mesophyll is usually 
six cells in thickness. In three species of Polypodium there was a pali- 
sade tissue of two layers, and no chlorophyll in the epiderm ; the air- 
cavities are large ; the mesophyll is four cells in thickness. In eight 
species of Pteris there was a palisade tissue of one layer (in P. cretica 
three layers); the air-cavities are large; the presence of chlorophyll in 
the epiderm is variable ; also the depth of the mesophyll. Scolopen- 
drium has chlorophyll in the epiderm, and no palisade tissue ; the air- 
cavities are large ; the mesophyll is nine layers in thickness. 
Sporophyll of Marattiaceae.j — Prof. F. 0. Bower finds, in all the 
four living genera of Marattiacese — Angiopteris, Marattia , Dansea, and 
Kaulfussia — a substantial unity of type in the form and mode of 
formation of the sporanges, corresponding also to that of the fossil 
genera. In all of these a single superficial parent cell of prismatic 
form is to be recognised imbedded in the massive sporange when young, 
not in a central position, but directed obliquely towards the centre of 
the sorus. By periclinal division this forms internally the archespore, 
externally that part of the wall where dehiscence takes place by a slit 
or pore. The tapete arises typically from the cells surrounding the 
archespore. An annulus is present only when the sporanges are sepa- 
rate, as in Angiopteris. 
Muscineae. 
Propagation of Mosses by Gemmse.J — Herr C. Correns describes 
in detail the various modes of vegetative propagation occurring in 
Mosses, and classifies them under four main heads, viz. : — (1) Belonging 
to the stem (bulbils) ; either from leafy stems and buds ; or by metamor- 
* Bull. Torrey Bot. Club, xxiv. (1897) pp. 432-5. 
t Proc. Boy. Soc., lxii. (1897) pp. 26-8 ; Ann. of Bot., xi. (1897) pp. 488-9. 
X Eer. Deutsch. Bot. Gesell., xv. (1897) pp. 374-84. Cf. this Journal, 1896, 
p. 332. 
