208 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
plasomes of certain cells are ultimately employed only in the formation 
of cell-wall. 
The functions of the plasomes are very various, and are not confined 
to the formation of the contents and of the cell-wall ; their extreme 
minuteness and consequent large superficies greatly promote meta- 
stasis. They must be assumed to form a connected whole, which probably 
has a reticulate or scalariforn framework, the interstices of which are 
filled with fluid, as is shown by the behaviour of protoplasts under the 
pressure of gases. Whether the plasomes are the ultimate organic 
structures of the cell cannot at present be determined ; if they are so, 
they must be regarded as the carriers of all inherited characters, or the 
“ pangens ” of de Vries.* 
The mode of growth of the plasomes differs, however, from that of 
protoplasm ; the plasome increases simply by the growth of its mass, 
protoplasm by the fresh formation of growing plasomes. 
Nuclear Origin of Protoplasm.! — M. C. Degagny, in a previous 
note on this subject, specially described the perforations which are pro- 
duced across the nucellus, while in the present paper he deals with the 
consecutive formation of soluble ferments and of coagulable protoplas- 
mic matters in the cell. The author takes as an example Helleborus 
niger (Christmas rose), and shows that these soluble ferments are the 
product of the cells in process of disorganization ; a full understanding 
of the phenomenon is furnished by attentive observation of the tissues of 
the nucellus. In the Christmas rose there are certain nucelli where 
there are no perforations, and others where there are ; there are certain 
nucelli where the embryo-sac in its growth assimilates the whole of the 
tissues which are in contact with it, without leaving any residue, and 
others where these tissues are not consumed by the sac. The author 
then carefully traces the formation of the soluble ferments, and states 
that these are not the only trace of liquid matter, but that in the per- 
forations of the nucellus newly coagulated protoplasmic matter is also 
found. Several examples are then successively described which show 
clearly the actual course of the phenomena which the author describes ; 
Lilium candidum is a favourable example. 
C 2) Other CeU-contents (including' Secretions). 
Distribution of the Organic Acids in Succulent Plants.! — Accord- 
ing to observations made by M. E. Aubert, chiefly on Sedum dendroideum , 
Crassula arborescens , and Sempervivum tectorum, malic acid is the only 
acid found in the free state in succulent plants, except occasional faint 
traces of tartaric. The quantity of malic acid varies greatly in different 
leaves of the same rosette (in the house-leek), and in the same rosette at 
different ages, being most abundant in the outer leaves. In the stem 
and leaves, the quantity is greatest at an early age, decreasing as the 
plants grow older ; and as regards the distribution of the acid in the leaf 
itself, its proportion is least where the part receives most light, both 
* Cf. this Journal, 1889, p. 547. 
f Bull. Soc. Bot. France, xxxvii. (1890) pp. 180-8. Cf. this Journal, 1890, 
p. 196. 
X Rev. Gen. de Bot. (Bonnier), ii. (1890) pp. 369-84 (5 figs.); and Bull. Soc. 
Bot. France, xxxvii. (1890) pp. 135-7. 
