I 3 2 
Notes. 
the spores. The protoplasm, which is remarkably granular, is of a 
spongy texture (probably due to the extraction of the oil), and contains 
a nucleus of very large size in which bodies resembling nucleoli were 
in some cases detected. The nucleus is sharply marked off from the 
cytoplasm by a membrane, but it must be borne in mind that 
this feature may be due in part to the methods used in embed- 
ding. When spores are examined in this stage the protoplasm stains 
but slightly with haematoxylin, and the tint is inclined to red, even the 
nucleus not being deeply coloured. In somewhat older spores, at 
the period immediately preceding germination, the whole protoplasm 
stains far more readily and deeply, but a nucleus is no longer differ- 
entiated by staining, and the colour now produced is of a deep blue. 
As I have frequently had spores of different ages on the same slide, all 
of which were subjected to exactly similar treatment, this difference 
probably indicates an actual diffusion of the substance of the nucleus 
through the cytoplasm, since the change is always so prominent in 
spores in the condition referred to. 
This view receives some confirmation from the circumstances 
attending the formation of the prothallium, now to be described. The 
first indication of cell-division occurs in a somewhat peculiar manner, 
but its significance is rendered clear by what takes place subsequently. 
Before entering upon a description of what actually happens, it may be 
well, in order to avoid misconstruction, to state expressly the opinion 
that the characters presented are rendered visible only by the action 
of the means necessarily employed in embedding. This does not, 
however, vitiate the conclusion that they may be taken as indications 
of internal changes which actually occur in the protoplasm. In spores, 
in which cell-formation is about to commence, the deeply stained 
protoplasm is seen to be traversed by a few ‘ cracks ’ which divide the 
contents of the spore into a few large isolated masses. Although the 
surfaces of the protoplasmic masses which abut on the £ cracks 5 
possess a granular structure, there is nothing as yet which points to 
the definite existence of a cell-wall separating them from each other ; 
at a subsequent period, however, the spaces (‘ cracks ’) are seen to 
be traversed here and there by membranes of extreme tenuity, which 
are also in contact with the protoplasm in numerous places. These 
membranes are formed in the spore between originally confluent 
masses of protoplasm, and the splitting is produced artificially as above 
referred to. The young cell-wall, very soon after its appearance, grows 
