652 
SUMMARY OP CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
B. CRYPTO GAMXA. 
Germination of Spores.* — From a series of experiments on the ger- 
mination of the spores of Bryophyta and Pteridopkyta ( Marchantia , 
ferns, Equisetum), Mr. F. De F. Heald concludes that, under ordinary 
conditions of temperature and inorganic nourishment, moss and liver- 
wort spores are unable to germinate in the dark. Organic nourishment, 
in the form of either peptone or grape-sugar, will incite the germination 
of most spores in complete darkness. Moss protonemes are able to 
attain a considerable size in the dark by a saprophytic nourishment, 
although the vigour of growth is considerably below the normal. Under 
ordinary conditions of temperature and inorganic nourishment, fern 
spores are unable to germinate in the dark ; but a higher temperature 
will furnish conditions for germination in complete darkness. The 
spores of Equisetum germinate apparently as well in darkness as in light, 
and at ordinary temperatures. 
Cryptogamia Vascularia. 
Leaf and Sporocarp of Marsilia.f — Mr. D. S. Johnson has studied 
the development of the leaf and sporocarp in Marsilia quadrifolia, and 
states that in its mode of origin the leaf agrees closely with that of 
other leptosporangiate Pteridophyta, as also in its further growth by 
the segmentation of a two-sided apical cell ; but the details of the seg- 
mentation differ. The sporocarp originates from a transversely placed 
apical cell arising in a marginal cell on the inner side of the young leaf. 
The microsporanges and megasporanges are derived from sister-cells, 
and it is not correct to say that the former come from segments of the 
apical cell of the latter. The author regards the sporocarp of Marsilia 
as homologous with the petiole only of the sterile branch of a leaf. 
Leaf and Sporocarp of Pilularia.i — From studies made on P. globu- 
lifera, Mr. D. S. Johnson concludes that the leaves of Pilularia arise, 
in acropetal succession, on the right and left sides alternately of the 
upper surface of the stem. Each leaf originates in a large cell, from 
which a typical two-sided apical cell is cut off by curved anticlinals. The 
sporocarp arises on the inner and anterior side of the leaf, just above 
the axillary bud, which is always present. A fertile branch of the stem 
has a sporocarp on nearly every leaf, but there is never more than one 
on the same leaf. A careful study of the leaf does not indicate the 
presence of even a rudimentary lamina. The sporocarp originates from 
the two-sided apical cell in one of the marginal cells of the fourth grade 
in (probably) the first segment of the anterior side of the leaf. The 
megasporanges and microsporanges arc not derived from different mar- 
ginal cells, as in Marsilia. The sporocarp of Pilularia appears to be 
the equivalent of a sporocarp of Marsilia in which the number of sori 
has been reduced to two pairs. 
Oophyte of Botrychium.§ — Mr. E. C. Jeffrey publishes further 
details respecting the interesting discovery of the gametophyte of 
* Bot. Gazette, xxvi. (1898) pp. 25-46 (1 pi.). 
f Ann. of Bot., xii. (1898) pp. 119-45 (3 pis.). 
X But. Gazette, xxvi. (1898) pp. 1-25 (3 pis.). 
§ ‘The Gametophyte of Boti ychiurn virginianum,’ Toronto, 1898, 32 pp. and 
4 pis. Cf. this Journal, 1897, p. 415. 
