282 MR. C. T. DRUERY ON APOSPORY. 
normal quantity. In some cases thick fleshy prothalli of irre- 
gular form were developed from quite blunt projections which, 
when laid down, showed no signs whatever of prothallic growth. 
In October I sent several specimens of these prothalli to 
Prof. F. O. Bower at Glasgow ; and upon one of these he found 
numerous archegonia, both old and new, but no antheridia. The 
fact of these being true prothaili was, however, thus fully 
established. Later, in November, I found both antheridia and 
archegonia in abundance on one of the largest prothalli in my 
culture, an abnormal feature of which was the production ot 
these organs in quantity on both upper and under surfaces in 
conjunction with root-hairs, which, however, predominated on 
the lower surface, as might have been expected. It remains, of 
course, an open question whether plants will be produced; but, 
from general robustness of growth, I have little doubt on this 
point. 
I exhibit the plant under notice, upon which the fimbriate 
projections will be clearly seen, though, unless laid down as de- 
scribed, they have failed to develop more than quite incipient 
prothalli even inaclose warm frame. I also exhibit the cultures, 
two in number, showing developed prothalli, and accompany my 
notes with sketch of a portion of frond, natural size, and enlarged 
drawings of material after culture. 
This constitutes the fourth British species in which apospory 
has been shown to occur, viz. Athyrium Filix-feemina var. claris- 
sima, Polystichum angulare var. pulcherrimum (several forms), 
Lastrea pseudo-mas var. cristata, and Scolopendrum vulgare var. 
crispum Drummonde. 
The second exhibit consists of cultures of a new aposporous 
find of Athyrium Filix-femina by Mr. T. Bolton, who showed 
some pinne at the meeting of the British Pteridological Society at 
Lancaster in August last. This had been found in the autumn of 
1892 in that district ; and on examining the portions of frond 
submitted, I was at once struck with its strong resemblance to 
that form of Athyriwm Filix-feemina upon which apospory was 
first discovered, and was found in North Devon. The peculiar 
slenderness and attenuation of all subdivisions and the general 
make of the two ferns were almost identical, though the 
second find is easily recognizable by most of the terminals being 
spiral. When the pinne were handed to me, they were accom- 
panied by the remark that “the spores never seemed to ripen ;” 
