CONCERNING THE ORGANIZATION OF THE SPORE 
MOTHER-CELLS OF MARSILIA QUADRIFOLIA. 
W. MAKQTTETTE. 
(With Plates Till and JX.) 
In a recent paper/ I incidentally called attention to the fact 
that during the synapsis stages of spore mother-cells of Marsilia 
quadrifolia the starch grains, which are almost invariably pres¬ 
ent at that time, are aggregated in a definite region of the cell. 
In connection with the translocations which the starch grains 
in young leaf-cells of Isoetes undergo during mitosis, this 
raised the question as to the behavior of the starch aggregation 
in the spore mother-cells of Marsilia during mitosis, and as to 
whether there is a permanent polar organization of the cells 
here similar to that found in the vegetative cells of Isoetes. 
Further interest is given to a study of the organization of the 
cells in the sporocarp of Marsilia because of BelajefPs state¬ 
ments 1 2 regarding the behavior of the blepharoplasts in the 
microgametophytes of Marsilia. Belajeff traces the blepharo- 
plast back several cell-generations from the antherozoid and 
describes it as behaving during mitosis in all respects like the 
central body of animal cells, and concludes that they are simi¬ 
lar in function. 
It is to be expected that a study of the method of spindle 
formation and cell division in the various cells of the sporo- 
1 Manifestations of polarity in plant cells which apparently are with¬ 
out centrosomes. Beih. z. Bot. CentraVbl., xxi, Abt. i: 297. 1907. 
2 Belajeff, W.: Ueber die Centrosome in den spermatogenen Zellen. 
Ber. d. deut. bot. Ges., xvii:199. 1899. 
6—S. & A. 
