16 



I afterwards difcovered the grains and anthers of V. geminata on fomc fila- 

 ments, precifely refembling thofe of Conferva vcficata, but the grains were fo 

 much fmaller, that, relying on M. Vaucher's defcription, I concluded they were 

 naked feeds. I therefore imagined that in the former fpecimen the male and 

 female organs were concealed within the capfule, and in the fpecimens which I 

 afterwards gathered, that the capfules had fallen off or died away, and thus left 

 the feeds fitting on their receptacle with the anthera expofed to view. 



M. Vaucher has not been able to prove the nature of what he has called 

 anthera with equal fatisfaftion to himfelf •, " Cependant je ne fuis pas auffi 

 certain des fondions auquelles eft appellee la corne qui les accompagne ; elle 

 eft a la verite conftamment placee dans les voifmage des grains ; on la voit bien 

 repandre fa poufliere dans /' Eclofperme ovoide en particulier, cela eft inconteftible. 

 Cependant j'ai toujours defire quelque experience dirette, qui me put con- 

 vaincre de 1'ufage de cette corne." It appears from this quotation that M. 

 Vaucher has been rather too hafty in his application of the term anthera in the 

 fpecific defcriptions, and that he has fallen into the common error of fuppofing 

 that the analogy between phxnogamous and aquatic cryptogamous plants muft 

 be perfect, without making a proper allowance for the difference that mult 

 neceffarily exift in the latter from the difference of their fituation. If his con- 

 jecture fhould be confirmed by future obfervation, I am of opinion that the 

 awl-fhaped proceffes fubtended by the capfules of feveral Ceramia, and the tribe 

 intended to have been called Borreria, will alfo prove to be male organs, and 

 effect the fecundation of the feed in the fame manner. 



Of this genus, M. Vaucher has enumerated eleven fpecies, few of which can 

 be at all diftinguifhed from each other except by die fructification, and this 

 varies fo much with refpe£t to the fize, number, and difpofition of the capfules 

 in almoft every different mafs, and even in the fame fpecimen, that it can 

 hardly be confulered a fufficient indication of fpecific difference. My friend, 

 Mr. Hooker, fays he has feen petioles bearing two and f une three capfules, and 

 •ther capfules fingle and feffile on the fame plant. In my defcription of C. 



