Page:Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 30 214-224.djvu/10

220 lower cells then divide in the sagittal plane (f. 11) and this this is followed by a division of the terminal cell. The basal cells afterward grow out and divide in such a way as to give the body a free margin throughout its periphery, though it remains attached to the axis for a considerable time by a single cell on its proximal surface. F. 13–16 show stages in the subsequent development, 14 being a view of its proximal surface, and 13, 15 and 16 of its distal, the point of attachment in each case being at b. The part which is derived from the base of the original trichome consists soon of cells which are smaller, richer in protoplasm, and capable of more rapid division than those of the part which is derived from the apex of the original trichome. This part of basal origin is more regularly suborbicular in outline than the other. In neither part can an apical cell be pointed out with any certainty. In the earlier stages the whole body seems to be meristematic; later a constriction appears near its middle and the formation of new cells is then the most active in the zone of this constriction. The larger-celled part, derived from the apex or distal end of the initial trichome, becomes at about this time more than one cell thick in its middle and terminal regions and shows papilliform outgrowths, the beginnings of the root-hairs. The smaller-celled portion derived from the base or proximal end of the initial trichome remains only one cell thick except in the isthmus of constriction where it finally, in part at least, becomes two or more cells thick. F. 16 shows a well-developed gemma inverted as regards its original relations to the axis of the gametophyte. The edges of the two parts here overlap slightly in the zone of constriction. Later, the isthmus elongates, giving the body a somewhat panduriform or at length subspatulate outline. F. 17 shows the outline of a gemma in an older stage, and f. 18 a still later development.

Attempts to germinate the spores of the plants collected by Earle and Tracy were made in the autumn and winter of 1902–03. Though the spores were to all appearances mature, the attempts were successful in the case of only a very few spores, which were carried a little beyond the stage represented in our f. 21 and f. 22. The germ-tubes in every case observed came out from near the middle of the outer or more spiny face. This tube is first