336 Wager . — ( 9/2 the Structure and 
four nuclei in the oospore (Fig. 26). These are distributed 
irregularly in the protoplasm, which is very irregularly vacuo- 
late, showing a large number of oil-vacuoles also. The four 
nuclei then divide again into eight, and successive divisions 
take place until thirty-two nuclei have been produced, at 
which stage the division stops. By the time this stage is 
reached, the oil-globules have united together into the single 
large central mass of oil, the protoplasm forming a layer 
around it in which the thirty- two nuclei are arranged in 
a single layer (Fig. 27). The oospore now appears to be 
mature, and the formation of the exospore and endospore to 
be complete. In the former three distinct layers can be 
seen ; an inner comparatively thin homogeneous layer, a 
middle thick columnar layer, and an outer irregular warty 
layer. The endospore consists only of one very thick 
layer (Fig. 27). The oospore now enters upon its resting 
period, and it is interesting to note that it has already 
germinated to the extent of producing what we may regard 
as a multinucleate cell or sporophyte with thirty-two nuclei. 
I have never been able to observe a larger number of nuclei 
than this even in quite old oospores taken from very rotten 
material, so that it is probable that I am quite right in stating 
that this is its normal condition in the resting stage. Unfortu- 
nately I have never been able to observe the germination of 
the oospore, so that I cannot say at what period or under 
what conditions it begins to germinate ; but De Bary (’ 63 ) 
has shown that in germination the whole of the cell becomes 
a zoosporangium ; and, if his observation is correct, as is 
probably the case, that 100 or more zoospores are pro- 
duced ; and if we assume that each zoospore possesses one 
nucleus, as is also probable, then each of the thirty-two 
nuclei by dividing into four would give us 1 28 zoospores, 
a number sufficiently near De Bary’s estimate to render it 
probably correct ; we may therefore regard each of the 
thirty-two nuclei together with the protoplasm in connexion 
with it as the mother-cell of four zoospores, and the ripe 
oospore with thirty-two nuclei as the sporophyte. The life- 
