Triglockin maritimum , L. 
99 
The Embryo-sac. 
Hofmeister ( 9 ) has described the embryo-sac, &c., of this 
plant. He draws attention to the anatropous ovule, and to 
the fact that the remains of the nucellus surrounding the 
embryo-sac are of some thickness. 
Writing of the embryology he mentions that the oospore 
frequently increases in size before division takes place. In 
the segment-cell which immediately abuts on the end-cell 
of the proembryo, and which proves to be the mother-cell of 
the embryo, divisions take place in three directions of space. 
He also draws attention to the endosperm, which, as a closed 
tissue, is quite suppressed in Triglochin , free nuclei only being 
formed, and then only in some cases. 
The mature embryo-sac is oval in shape, and frequently 
contains the normal number of nuclei. 
The chief interest of this structure lies in the fact that the 
antipodal cells exhibit a fairly considerable range of variation 
as regards the number which may be produced. Whilst in 
some instances the number may be as low as three, in others 
a tissue may be formed such as has been described as occurring 
in many of the lower Monocotyledons, e. g. Grasses (9 and 10), 
Sparganium (la and 1 b), Lysichiton (1 a), and some other 
Araceae (Id). The number of antipodals thus formed is 
never so large as occurs, according to Campbell, in Spar¬ 
ganium simplex , in which plant 150 have been observed. As 
a matter of fact the largest number of antipodal cells counted 
in Triglochin was in the preparations illustrated by Figs. 28 
and 29, and in this instance fourteen nuclei were made out. 
These numbers are similar to those obtained by Hofmeister 
( 9 ) for the antipodals of Triticeae. It is an interesting fact 
that the embryo-sac which possessed fourteen antipodal cells 
also showed other peculiarities, for the number of cells ob¬ 
served at the micropylar end numbered five, and these cells 
were all of an equally large size, and similar in appearance (see 
Figs. 28-31, which represent preparations of the same embryo- 
H 2 
