34 



impressed with the amount of active life which is produced 

 by the apparently inert Fern prothallus and to regard 

 the whole phenomenon as one of the innumerable wonders 

 of nature. As we have spoken of a cluster of archegonia, 

 each with its embedded embryo seed, and each of 

 these has of course its attendant crowd of suitors, so to 

 speak, it would be assumed that each prothallus should 

 produce a cluster of Ferns. As a rule, however, only one 

 is produced, the green prothallus itself evidently adopting 

 the vole of foster-mother to the first or most robust of 

 the possible offspring, the rest then perishing, but if the 

 cluster be divided by a razor, several may survive, and 

 even without this in one case, in our own cultures, no 

 less than seven plants were produced on one prothallus,- 

 six of which survived the necessary surgical separation, 



Chas. T. Druery, V.M.H., F.L.S. 



POLYDACTYLOUS POLYSTICHUMS. 



A very large proportion of otherwise fine Polystichum 

 angulaves which are brought under the Society's notice for 

 expert opinion are found to belong to the defective class 

 of the P. ang. polydactylnm, which were found many years 

 ago by Col. A. M. Jones. This plant is distinguished by 

 the fact that it is only irregularly polydactylous, non- 

 polydactylous pinn?e invariably occurring in every frond, 

 while the tips of the fronds vary from plain points to 

 irregularly ramose ones. Unfortunately, this fern has 

 evidently a most Don Juan like character, since 

 innumerable good forms of practically all types have 

 become crossed by it, and produced offspring shewing 

 their own particular character marred by the imperfections 

 and vagaries of the other erratic progenitor. In this way, 

 too, an immense number of seedlings have got about, and 

 these would appear to be endowed also with the pre- 

 potent and gay Lotharian proclivities of Col. Jones' 

 original find. Now in these days of abundance of thorough- 

 breds, and the consequent strictness of selection thereby 



