210 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



Among the Orchidaceae, Neottia nidus-avis is a brownish, leafless 

 saprophyte. Its true root is exceedingly minute, though what is 

 popularly considered the root is a mass of succulent, thick root- 

 fibres, from the extremities of which young plants are produced. 

 It is found in the rich vegetable soils of dark, damp woods, and 

 seems to nourish itself by rendering soluble the organic matter in 

 the soil, absorbing it and converting it into its own substance. 

 Corallorhiza and Epipogium in the same order, and Monotropa 

 belonging to the Pyrolaceae, are plants of a similar character. All 

 of them contain traces of chlorophyll, which is not to any extent, 

 however, effective for assimilating. They possess, further, abundance 

 of starch, the materials of which are evidently absorbed in a soluble 

 form, and then converted into it in a manner similar to what fifoes 

 on in the roots, bulbs, tubers, &c, of ordinary green plants. This 

 general resemblance to organs in which stores of reserve material 

 are laid up is further evidenced in the case of Lathraea squamaria. 

 In the interior of the nucleus of quickly-growing cells in that 

 plant, those protoplasmic bodies to which Nageli gave the name of 

 crystalloids are observed in great numbers. They are usually only 

 found in cells where there are large quantities of reserve material 

 (as potato tubers, oily seeds, &c. ), and they seem especially adapted 

 for a dormant condition, the case of L. squamaria being the only 

 known instance of their existence in quickly-growing cells. 



In phanerogamic parasites the embryo not uncommonly remains 

 rudimentary. In Cuscitta, Orobanche, and Lathraea, for instance, 

 the cotyledons are not discernible. In the Mistletoe, too, the 

 nucleus of the ovule is naked, no coats being formed, and the seed 

 frequently contains two or even three embryos. The parasitical 

 habit thus seems to affect the embryo and its development. 



To groups of organisms that cannot obtain their nutriment from 

 inorganic sources, it is hopeless to turn for any insight into the 

 primordial forms of life. The very fact of parasitism and 

 saprophytism presupposes the existence of other organic life; and 

 it would seem probable that the primordial protoplasm must either 

 have been in the form of a chlorophyll body or one possessing 

 similar powers of nutrition. Nevertheless, vegetable parasites 

 existed at a very remote geological epoch. The great botanist, 

 Robert Brown, long ago discovered the mycelia of a fossil fungus. 

 Some years ago Mr. Carruthers, of the British Museum, recognised 

 mycelial threads in the tissue of a fossil fern from the Eocene beds 



