450 Hartog . — The Alleged Fertilization 
‘ In a few cases, however, I have seen two nuclei of unequal 
size in the young oospore ; and from this I might have 
inferred a sexual fertilization, had not the oangium in these 
very cases happened to be free from all signs of antheridial 
branches, let alone fertilizing tubes (’ 95 , p. 694, PI. XXIX, 
Figs. 25.)’ This observation seems to have been inexplicable 
to Professor Trow : in his ’95 paper he wrote (p. 638), ‘ the 
fact that Hartog did not find binucleate oospores in Sapro - 
legnia may be traced most probably to an examination of 
apogamous forms like X. Thureti! But it was just in an 
apogamous oangium that I figured such a binucleate oospore, 
and not in cases where the antheridia and fertilizing tubes 
were well developed. This fact I recalled in my criticism 
(’ 96 ) : ‘ I have indeed found and figured a young oospore 
of Saprotegnia with two nuclei, as is so frequently the case 
in Actdya ; but in this case there was no antheridium present 
whatever, while many hundreds of oangia [sc., of Saprotegnia] 
with attached antheridia and contained antheridial tubes did 
not supply a second case of a binucleate oospore in this 
genus’ (p. 99). In his ’99 paper Trow cites the passage in 
the oratio obliqua , and in such a context as to suggest that 
it applied to Achlya. He goes on to say (p. 167): ‘I have 
never been able to absolutely prove the absence of an 
antheridium from an oogonium except by the method of 
following the development throughout on separate hyphae. 
In the case of oogonia taken haphazard, I have great doubts 
as to the possibility of demonstrating the complete absence 
of an antheridium by Hartog’s method.’ There cannot be 
the least opening for any doubt in examining carefully 
prepared specimens in toto (whether merely floated out, or 
carefully spread out with needles) as to the presence or 
absence of antheridial branches, antheridia, or fertilizing 
tubes. My specimens were laid before, I think, two meetings 
of the British Association, and were accessible to any one 
interested to go over them with me, as Mr. Wager did ; and 
I do not admit that Professor Trow has any right to assume 
either wilful negligence or incapacity on my part, in a matter 
