2 ROMANCE OF LOW LIFE AMONGST PLANTS. 



the Ferns, and similar plants, the Mosses, and the 

 Liverworts ; the latter includes Lichens, Fungi, and 

 Algae, or water-weeds. The Higher Cryptogamia are 

 possessed of an axis, more or less complete, descend- 

 ing into rootlets, or representatives of rootlets, and 

 furnished with foliaceous expansions, the analogue 

 of leaves. In the ferns the resemblance to leaves is 

 nearly complete, but their function is more complex, 

 since they bear the organs of fructification on the 

 under side, or some portion of their surface. The 

 Lower Cryptogamia arc much more variable in form, 

 without terminal vegetation or rootlets, often very 

 minute, and may even be reduced to a single cell. 

 This must suffice as a general introduction, since 

 more explicit description would lead us away from 

 the main object of this work. 



It cannot be claimed for these humble vegetables 

 that they emulate the glories of the primeval forest, 

 wherein league after league of towering trees gives 

 shelter and food to myriads of animals, and is 

 eloquent with the song of birds. It cannot be urged 

 on their behalf that they present the elegant forms, 

 vhe splendid coloration, or the delicious odours of the 

 innumerable flowers which festoon the trunks of the 

 giants of the forest, or carpet the soil with a living 

 arabesque. It cannot be written of them that they 

 supply the staple food of the human race, the chief 

 support of the animal world, and, either directly or 

 indirectly, are the source of most of the essentials, 

 and many of the luxuries, of civilized life. Nor can 

 it be vaunted of them that they are the staples of a 

 commerce which represents the wealth of the world, 



