368 
SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 
no special peculiarities. The mother-cell of the embryo- sac is a single 
cell, probably originally hypodermal, in the apex of the nucellus. The 
position of the endosperm-nucleus varies greatly ; it may be close to 
the egg-apparatus, or more nearly midway between the two ends. The 
antipodals are absorbed soon after the maturity of the embryo-sac. The 
pollen-grains formed in the anthers of female flowers develop e normally, 
though they never become functional. 
Nucellus of the Ovule of Croton.* — Herr G. Kayser states that, in 
Croton flavens var. balsamifer , the ovule is dichlamydeous, not mono- 
chlamydeous as previously described, the caruncle being developed from 
the outer integument. The nucellus curves slightly, and passes through 
both the endostome and the exostome, projecting through the micropyle 
as a long sausage-shaped protuberance, with a wrinkled slightly papillose 
surface, which curves behind the caruncle, reaching to the axis of the 
ovary. After impregnation the projecting portion of the nucellus be- 
comes cut off by the constriction of the micropyle, and the portion 
enclosed within the integuments is completely absorbed by the embryo- 
sac. 
Influence of the Pollen on the Fruit and Seed.j - — Dr. E. Giltay 
offers a contribution to the settlement of the question whether the pollen 
can have any direct influence on the impregnated embryo or on the 
fertilized plant outside the embryo ; from the result of experiments on 
varieties of peas and of rye. He finds, in the one case, the colour of 
the cotyledons, and in the other that of the aleurone-layer of the seed, 
to correspond with that of the male parent, and therefore to have been 
directly influenced by the pollen-grain. 
Fertilization of Gymnosperms.f — Dr. L. Juranyi corrects a mis- 
apprehension of Strasburger § as shown in a sentence in his last work 
on the fertilization of Gymnosperms. Juranyi has never stated that 
the division of the nucleus in the pollen-grain of Ceratozamia takes place 
without any longitudinal splitting of the nuclear filaments. 
(2) Nutrition and Growth, (including: Germination, and Movements of 
Fluids). 
Distribution of Seeds of the Cyperacese.|| — Herr C. Raunkiser states 
that the transport of the seeds of most species of Cyperaceae is effected 
by the agency of water. In many paludose species of Carex the fruit 
is heavier than water, and is buoyed up by a floating apparatus. 
Germination of Dormant Seeds.^f — According to observations made 
by Herr A. Peter, seeds of about 70 species of plants which must have 
lain dormant in the ground for periods varying between 20 and 46 years, 
germinated when the soil was loosened, moistened, and exposed to light, 
although the germinating processes were carried on with less energy 
than in fresh seeds. 
* Ber. Deutsch, Bot. Gesell. xi. (1893) Gen.-Versamml.-Heft, pp. 61-5. 
t Jahrb. f. wiss. Bot. (Pringsheim), xxv. (1893) pp. 489-509 (1 pi.). 
X SB. K. Ungar. Naturwiss. Gesell. Budapest, Nov. 8, 1893. See Bot. Centralbl., 
lvii. (1894) p. 232. § Cf. this Journal, 1893, p. 655. 
|| Bot. Tiddskr., xviii. (1893) pp. 19-23. See Bot. Centralbl., lvii. (1894) p. 207. 
% Nachr. K. Gesell. Wiss. Gottingen, 1893, pp. 673-91. 
