Notes . 
433 
into the lobes of the spore-mother-cells/ But this can hardly be 
accepted as an adequate explanation, for it implies that the force 
which causes the nucleus to assume the peculiar shape in question, 
and which further impels the outward development of the fibrillae, 
acts from the centre of the nucleus. The evidence, however, here, 
as in other cases, points not to a centrifugal push, but to a pull 
acting from without upon the nucleus, at four points corresponding 
severally to the aggregations of protoplasm situated in the four lobes 
of the cell. 
The further assertion that ‘the cones of fibrillae are not spindles* 
obviously involves a revision of terminology, and is at complete 
variance with accepted usage. It would be of interest to learn 
the precise stage at which Prof. Davis considers the fibrillae of the 
cones, which he figures as running out into the several lobes of 
the cell, to be transformed into actual spindle-fibres. But the mode 
of origin of * the true spindle * is not given, although this is obviously 
a point of supreme importance in connexion with the views put forward 
by Prof. Davis. 
I may conclude this note by remarking that I see no good reason 
at present for abandoning the views as to the origin and relations of 
the spindle structures advanced in the memoirs already cited, and 
I may be permitted further to express the opinion that, in dealing 
with complex matters such as those raised by Prof. Davis, the value 
attaching to general conclusions is very small unless they are founded 
on a wide and comparative basis. 
J. BRETLAND FARMER. 
Royal College of Science, 
London. 
IjOXSOMA CUIOTIN GH AMII — A CORRECTION. In vol. xv, 
No. LVII, Annals of Botany, Mr. D. T. Gwynne- Vaughan gives a 
short review of previous literature upon the anatomy of Loxso?na, 
in which he says (p. 75): £ Finally, Giesenhagen confuses the correct 
opinion hitherto held regarding the vascular system, by speaking of 
it as a central collateral or concentric bundle ; he also refers incorrectly 
to the structure of the cortex/ 
In view of the fact that the author has given in his paper a most 
careful description of the anatomy of Loxsoma , which adds greatly 
F f 
