i86 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



This was in full daylight, next a window, but not in 

 sunshine. No movement had been observed in the 

 other fronds which were all sterile and reclining, with 

 the exception of a single one which was just unfold- 

 ing, in which Mr. Loomis thinks he has detected 

 incipient motion of the same kind. This little fern is 

 very common and it is easy to obtain it and set it 

 growing. The matter is worthy of further investiga- 

 tion. Have any of our readers observed the pheno- 

 menon herein stated? — J. Kenyon. 



A Suggestion. — It has occurred to me that a 

 valuable addition might be made to the literature of 

 British Botany were a compact manual to be pub- 

 lished under the joint authorship of several of our 

 recognised leading botanists (of whom six would 

 probably form a sufficient number), combining the 

 authority such a conclave would command, with the 

 collected results both of special work in the field and 

 at the desk, of the principal writers of the time. 

 Such a work (not too costly) would be of great value 

 to the student, from its comprising a more corrected 

 grasp of specific differences in our plants, based on 

 well-considered individual opinion. Some genera 

 need such joint authority greatly : the Rubi, for 

 instance : and the pardonable elaboration of special 

 investigation of any one section of the subject would 

 thus receive due condensation and record. Such a 

 National Manual of British Botany might well be 

 corrected and re-edited every six or ten years, and so 

 set forth on its title-page or preface ; proper recog- 

 nition being given to existing authorities that would 

 probably be laid under contribution for such a pur- 

 pose. The director for the time being of our 

 National Botanical Gardens would seem to be the 

 right person to preside as chairman for what, I 

 venture to think, would prove, to the student of 

 the botany of these islands, a most valuable work. — 

 Horace Pearcc, F.L.S., Stourbridge. 



Organs of Mosses. — "Inquisitive" asks for 

 information on some of the organs of mosses, (i.) 

 The use of the calyptra after being torn away from 

 the vaginula, is protective to the young and tender 

 sporogonium : all field botanists must have noted this 

 in the Calypteracese, Polytrichaceae, &c, for when 

 the young sporogonium is hardly distinguishable from 

 the seta, it is effectually protected by the calyptra. 

 (2.) The use of the paraphyses is to keep the 

 antheridia and archegonia moist, in order that their 

 functions may be performed. Bridel says: "Cum 

 vero omnia dissepimentis transversalibus, qure basim 

 versus spatio minori inter se distant intercipiantur et 

 liquore quodam limpidissimo plena videantur, et 

 simul atque antherse officio masculo defuncttc fuerint 

 cmarcescant et corrumpantur, nihil obstat quo minus 

 ilia corpuscula pro nectariis speciei peculiaris 

 habeantur, sine utriculis a providente natura ad eum 

 finem dispositis, ut liquore quo turgent genitalia 



quibus denso agmine circumstant peipetuo madefacta 

 a noxia siccitate defendantur, illaque humiditatis 

 gradu semper fruantur sine quo pollinis explosio 

 nullatenus succedere potest. Eandem ob causam 

 feminea genitalia talibus filamentis succosis stipata 

 inveniuntur, sine quorum auxilio desiccata atque 

 corrugata nee pollinem fcecundatum admittere nee 

 admissorum granulorum rupturam promovere vale- 

 rent." Paraphyses are not found in the flowers of 

 all mosses, some of those inhabiting water and very 

 moist places having few or none, while those that are 

 found in dry places very rarely want them. Para- 

 physes occur less frequently in female than in male 

 and bisexual flowers. (3.) The use of the apophysis I 

 will leave to be fully explained by an abler pen, but 

 I think it is protective, as it is developed to the 

 greatest degree (being sometimes larger than the 

 capsule) in the Splachnacete, these mosses being 

 generally found on decaying animal matter, which 

 usually abounds with insects. (4.) "Inquisitive" 

 almost answers this question himself in his first query. 

 The vaginula is the base of the archegonium from 

 which the calyptra was torn away when the sporan- 

 gium was young. (5.) The antherozoids are con- 

 veyed by their power of swimming (when mature) 

 over the moist surface of the plants, fertilisation 

 taking place in moist weather. In many mosses the 

 antherozoids have not far to go, as in the bisexual 

 ones. Some dioicous mosses are rarely found in 

 fruit, the male and female plants often occurring in 

 distinct patches. — Win. West, Bradford. 



Organs of Mosses. — As another "Inquisitive" I 

 am trying to understand the mosses' structure, and 

 would offer the following in a spirit of inquiry : — (1.) 

 The "calyptra" or hood is a parent growth of the 

 moss, as a protective covering of the new plant 

 (sporogonium); when the latter is more advanced, the 

 hood is thrown off by wind or rain ; and in some cases 

 the operculum of the new plant is an inner covering 

 which detaches when the spores are ripe and ready to 

 disperse. (2.) The "paraphyses" are probably im- 

 perfect or undeveloped archegonia, a kind of calyx of 

 altered leaves. (3.) What is an apophysis ? (4.) The 

 "vaginula" is the base of the archegonium, from 

 which the calyptra has been separated by the upward 

 growth of the new plant which pushes through it and 

 lives upon the parent juices, but without organic 

 connection. — No. 2 Inquisitive. 



Wild Flowers and their Names.— I shall be 

 obliged for a little information as to the best method 

 of discovering the names of flowers which one may 

 meet with and be unable to recognise. It appears to 

 me there are three methods, viz. : 1. To determine (1) 

 by stem and variation of leaf to which division of 

 Cotyledons the plant belongs; then (2) refer it by 

 examination of petals and stamens and their dis- 

 position to its class, Thalamiflorae, Calyciflorre, or 



