234 
Notes on Recent Literature. 
THE PHYLOGENY OF THE ARCHEGONIAT/E. 
Ueber die Phylogenie der Archegoniaten und der Characeen. 
Von Dr. Heinrich Schenck (Engler’s Botan. Jahrbuch. 
Bd. XLII., p. 1, 1908). 
This is one of the most interesting papers that has been 
published in recent years on the phylogeny of archegoniate 
plants, and incidentally on the origin of the alternation of 
generations these plants exhibit. Professor Schenck is mainly 
concerned with stating the chief facts which lend support to 
deriving the Archegoniatae (and also the quite distinct group of the 
Characeae) 1 from the Brown Algae or Phaeophyceae. His paper con¬ 
tains, however, the first clear statement of the idea that the changed 
environment under which the fertilised egg in archegoniate plants 
develops, has been a factor of importance in the evolution of the 
sporophyte. Since this idea, developed on somewhat different lines, 
was the basis of certain speculations recently published in this 
journal, 2 it seems desirable that a fuller account of Professor 
Schenck’s paper should be given here than was possible in an 
article that did not enter into the literature of the subject. 
It is convenient to distinguish two aspects of the problem 
presented by the regular alternation of generations in the Bryo- 
phyta and Pteridophyta. One concerns the nature of the ancestral 
group of plants from which the Archegoniatae were derived, whether 
this group is regarded as still existing or as unknown to us. The 
second concerns the nature of the changes which have led to the 
type of alternation in Bryophytes and Pteridophytes, and of the 
factors of importance in these changes. The first is a purely 
phylogenetic and historical problem, to be attacked on comparathe 
lines ; the answer to the second, while largely speculative, may be 
assisted by experimental studies on existing plants. 
Professor Schenck’s paper is mainly concerned with the phylo¬ 
genetic aspect of the problem. He assumes as probable the 
separate origin of Bryophyta and Pteridophyta from the same 
group of Thallophyta, and in the absence of direct evidence 
afforded by intermediate forms, discusses the question “ To which 
group of Algae we should attach them ? ” He criticises and dismisses 
as improbable the views that Coleochcete or any other oogamous 
Green Algae represent the ancestral forms, and similarly dismisses 
the Rhodophyceae. He then proceeds to examine the evidence in 
favour of the assumption of a genetic connection of the Arche¬ 
goniatae with the Phaeophyceae. This is done under four heads, 
and mention of these, with a few remarks, will show the nature of 
the evidence upon which Professor Schenck relies, without, of 
course, fully indicating its scope. 
1 The part of the paper dealing with the Characeae will not be 
considered further. 
2 New Phytologist, Vol. VIII., No. 1. 
