ioo Mottier.—Chondriosomes and the Primordia 
hairs. The mucilaginous substance surrounding the young gemmae stains 
a beautiful light brown with the orange G. It is a perfectly homogeneous 
and structureless mass. 
In all developmental stages of a gemma, chondriosomes, along with the 
chloroplasts, are present in the cells. The large stalk cell of the gemma 
contains relatively few chloroplasts, but the chondriosomes are conspicuously 
numerous. 
In the early stages of antheridial development, the chloroplasts are 
eliminated from the central cells that give rise to the spermogenous tissue, 
being confined to the wall of this organ. In the wall cells both chloroplasts 
and chondriosomes are present, but only the latter in the spermogenous 
tissue. In all stages of antheridial development, chondriosomes are 
numerous and conspicuous in the spermogenous tissue up to the time of 
the final and diagonal division of these cells. They are in the form of 
granules or very short rods. Their fate was not traced in the transforma¬ 
tion of the cell into the sperm following the diagonal division. 
Anthoceros. Inasmuch as the cells of Marchantia contain a number 
of chloroplasts, the question naturally arose as to whether the chondrio¬ 
somes were not merely products of the disorganization of chloroplasts, or, 
in meristematic cells, undeveloped primordia of chloroplasts. In order to 
compare the chondriosomes described in the foregoing for Marchantia with 
those of a plant with one chloroplast to the cell, a study of the thallus of 
Anthoceros laevis was made. Scherer ( 1913 , p. 497) states that during the 
entire development of the gametophyte of Anthoceros Husnoti every cell, 
with the exception of the apical cell, possesses one chloroplast and a larger 
or smaller number of chondriosomes. 
My observations were made on the gametophyte of Anthoceros laevis . 
In all parts of the plant studied I am able to confirm the results of Scherer 
and to extend his conclusion to the apical cell as well. In the apical cell 
(Fig. 13), as in other vegetative cells of the thallus, the chondriosomes are 
very small and difficult to demonstrate, appearing, for the most part, as 
very slender and delicate rods or granules. They are relatively smaller 
than those of Marchantia and fewer in number in the ordinary cells. In 
the cells of the wall and stalk of the antheridia, on the contrary, the 
chondriosomes are larger and more conspicuous and retain the stain with 
greater avidity. I am also able to confirm the observations of Scherer 
in regard to the presence of chondriosomes in the spermogenous tissue 
and in the egg cell of the archegonium. The chondriosomes as figured 
by Scherer ( 1 . c., Fig. 9) for cells of the spermogenous tissue are quite 
similar to those mentioned in the foregoing for Marchantia , In an early 
stage of the transformation of the sperm, a conspicuous rod is seen in each 
cell along with the nucleus. This I interpret as the blepharoplast. I was 
not able to convince myself that chondriosomes were present in such cells. 
