CYSTOSl'EllMEJE.
189
capsule of the masses of spores, which were surrounded bya bright green granular mucilaginous mass, and thus wereheld together in a ball. I have never been able to observein the interior of this mass any peculiar motion of thespores, yet I have seen that during the discharge ( Ausstrb -men) several seeds separated themselves from the principalmass, and then exhibited a high degree of voluntary motion,which often lasted a long time, and which still belonged tothem when they had distinctly increased in length, appa-rently in order to produce new individuals: this occurrence Ihave not actually been able to observe in this species, but Ihope that during this summer it will not escape me.
“ The above-mentioned capsule is exhibited in very differentforms in the accompanying tables; it ordinarily presents a pear-shaped figure, with a more or less elongated neck, which fre-quently expands into the form of a funnel; the breadth of thecapsule is greater at the base than that of the next joint. Thegradual developement of this organ, which I have not been ableto observe here, will be given with the following species. Itis however to be observed that the capsule, after the dischargeof the spores, separates from the filament, and then presentsthe form which is to be seen in figures 8 and 9.
“ The filaments are dissimilar, and, with advancing age,the dissimilarity increases, so that, at length, the ellipticalform of an utriculus passes into a perfectly spherical one.I had the good fortune to observe how such a sphericalutriculus separated itself, under my eyes, from the othertubes ( Schlauchen ), and, existing only for itself, moved, Imight almost say voluntarily, with incredible swiftness in alldirections. Figure 11. a and b show these detached sphericalutriculi; and, whilst observing them, I succeeded, by blowingon the object-bearer, in hastening this separation, and thenobserved the free motion of the separated tube. With regardto the structure of this organ, it is to be observed, that it isusually as simple as that of the ordinary utriculus, whilst thespherical cell is closely filled with masses of spores. In onepart, however, of the circumference of the sphere may be seen,upon close examination, a transparent portion, like an affixed