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V.IIITE EUSTS. 129
from itself
doubt tliat a true vegetable produces
bodies endowed with active motion^ resembling low
forms of animal life, and yet in themselves not
animalcules_, as some would suggest, but essentially
vegetable, as we stall hereafter demonstrate. To
scientific men this is not new, except as regards
fungi, for in algee such bodies have long been
recognized.
A second kind of reproductive organs are described
by Dr. de Bary ;
and if future examinations
confirm his observations, as they doubtless will,
this feature is an important one. It is true that
M. Caspary long since detected similar bodies in
moulds (allied to that which produces the potato
disease), but he only knew them in a limited sense
compared with what De Bary has revealed. These
fruits are hidden amid the tissues of the plant on
which the *^ white rust '' is parasitic, and only
betray their presence by the coloration of those
tissues. To these bodies it is
proposed to give the
name of ^^ oogonia " and ^' antheridia,'^ on account
of their presumed sexuality, the " oogonia ^^
representing
the female, and the " antheridia " the male
organs.
The oogonia aro large spherical or ovoid cells,
with a thickish membrane containing a granular
protoplasm, or formative fluid.
They are produced
either terminally or laterally upon the threads of
the mycelium, from which they are separated by
septa or partitions.
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