scale from the soil, reverse it, and place it on the field of 

 our microscope for further investigation. We now find 

 that it was attached firmly to the soil by a bunch of many 

 hair-like roots, and that where the heart is indented is 

 clearly much thicker than elsewhere, forming a sort of 

 cushion. On this cushion, close to the indentation, is a 

 little cluster of teat-like bodies, the " archegonia " or 

 female parts of the prothallus, at the base of each of 

 which is an embryo seed. Elsewhere, scattered irregu- 

 larly among the root-hairs, is a number of short, round 

 pimple-like bodies, the antheridia, or male portions, and 

 from these, if water be present, we may see issue little 

 swarms of antherozoid? (each one an animated cell) which 

 swim actively about in the water, and eventually reach the 

 " archegonia," penetrate them, and fertilise the embedded 

 seeds beneath them. Now to form a fair parallel to all 

 this wonderful cell-work, we must imagine a vitalised brick 

 being laid on a clear space of ground, and, all by itself, 

 breaking up into other bricks which spontaneously 

 arrange themselves, construct laboratories in which com- 

 plex materials of other kinds are chemically fabricated, 

 make little chambers, and engender living organisms to 

 oci:upy them, and in short do an infinity of wonderful 

 things until a colossal edifice is erected (the adult fern), 

 which is endowed with the faculty of scattering broadcast 

 a few millions of equally gifted bricks, each one capable 

 of doing the like if called upon. 



All this, and far more, can be partly seen and partly 

 conceived by anyone who will take the trouble to sow a 

 pinch of fern spores, and follow through these perform- 

 ances with the aid of a microscope and an intelligent 

 imagination. Having done this, and thereby gripped to a 

 slight degree a sense of the marvels of cell growth, look 

 around, as suggested at the outset, and study the work 

 accomplished by the cell in other directions. Leaving 

 unsophisticated Nature on one side, study the contents of 

 every shop we see, save those of metal ware, jewellery, 



