PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
59 
exactly as described by Unger, the fructification progressed towards its develope- 
ment, the granular matter continuing to become more dense and opaque, and in its 
structure numbers of comparatively clearer spaces formed, which increasing, at last 
showed the capsule filled with from twenty to fifty zoospores arranged like the meshes 
of a network, and having still some granular matter evident at the sides of the cap¬ 
sules. I then distinctly noticed a movement of the four anterior zoospores (this I 
wish to state distinctly, as I find that Alexander Braun, whose accuracy of obser¬ 
vation is so well known, states that in “Derbesia, Saprolegnia and Chytridium the 
motion” which commonly occurs in other families, u does not become evident until 
after birth of the previously crowded germ cells”—I have also been able to verify this 
movement more than once) previous to their escape from the mother cell, one of 
them applying itself to the flask-like orifice, and gradually forcing its way out ; evi¬ 
dently, as sketched, undergoing considerable pressure in the process, which probably, 
in this instance, occupied half an hour. Its escape was soon followed by that of the 
other zoospores, generally emerging two by two, one succeeding the other with great 
rapidity, and darting out for some distance (at least half the length of the capsule) 
into the water; they then, after a short rest, floated olf right and left with evident 
motive power, and the other cells in the capsule in their turn began to exhibit inde¬ 
pendent movements and to escape; finally, the entire got out, leaving the capsule 
empty, the process taking altogether half an hour or a little longer for its completion. 
Almost all the zoospores that 1 observed resumed their globular form soon after escap¬ 
ing, and ceased to display motile force in the course of six to ten minutes, after which 
they became stationary. To illustrate the rapidity of the formation of these Cap¬ 
sules, I may mention that a tuft of barren tubuli, removed late at night and placed 
for observation in a glass cell, had developed its fructification in great luxuriance by 
next morning (within twelve hours), and from this I obtained the varieties of globu¬ 
lar mother cells, and those with double and triple cells, and also those remarkable 
monstrous forms in which the barren tube grows again above the apex of the capsule. 
Some of the barren tubes grew to a very great size and thickness, and developed 
spores within their substance; this, however, was extremely rare. I also saw such 
a tube emit four spores from its extremity, but they displayed little motile power, 
and floated off only a short distance after their escape. I cannot decide as to these 
spores having cilia. Thurot describes their having two, Alex. Braun found only one 
single short ciliurn. I did not succeed in getting them; probably I might with 
higher powers of the plant. It is, perhaps, too often assumed that cilia are indis¬ 
pensable for producing motion in cells. I obtained very perfect views of the mode 
of propagation of the spores. Many of them multiplied by a process of gemmation 
exactly like the cells of yeast; and the freshly-formed cell might by observation be 
seen with its fine granular contents aggregating together and forming large masses, 
and even transparent glistening globules of oil. So rapid was this budding process 
that the same parent cell had occasionally two, three, and four buds derived from 
the various parts of its surface and in different states of development. As they ac¬ 
quired a bulk nearly equal to that of the parent cell, I could generally observe the 
formation of a division occurring between the two; and this rapid production of 
cells soon formed dense masses of vegetation, which by a little care could be seen 
growing under the microscope. I would wish to direct attention to a very interest¬ 
ing mode of development which I have procured sketches of—the formation of thin 
hair-like shoots proceeding from a parent cell, and at its extremity the reproduction 
of the cell-form again resumed, in its usual condition prepared for active fissile de¬ 
velopment. I would merely state, in connection with this, that the growth of some 
forms of mould appears to be closely analogous to what I have described. Thus, I 
have seen similar thread-like processes connecting the sporules of the Ascophora 
Mucedo, and it appears to me to be both an indication of extreme vital energy in 
the reproductive process and also an arrangement, the object of which is evident, to 
enable the spores in their development to spread more rapidly over a more extended 
surface, and to interfere less with each other in their mutual growth. Having thus 
obtained a second condition of this plant, in which it is a rapidly budding unicellular 
body, I watched with much care for its return to the tubular form, and was able to 
trace it pretty perfectly. As the masses of cells developed they became rather larger 
in bulk and less defined (their utricle or limiting membrane, if at all existing, being 
