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Filicince or Ferns. It is less than fifty years ago since the 

 hfe-history of a Fern was worked out by the Pohsh Count 

 Leszczyc Suminski, who fully. investigated the subject, and gave 

 the result in an illustrated memoir published in 1848. The spore 

 produces from a cell in the first stage a cellular expansion of 

 a growth called the prothallium, much resembling the thallus 

 growth of a Marchantia or Liverwort. On the under surface of 

 this prothallium the Antheridia and Archegonia grow from 

 single cells. After the fertilisation of the Archegonia, the 

 asexual generation or Fern-plant proper commences its growth, 

 producing root and first leaf, and thus gradualy increases until 

 the perfect Fern is formed, which becomes an independent plant, 

 endunng for an indefinite number of years. Some of the Tree- 

 Ferns of New Zealand and other tropical countries, as is well 

 known, grow to a large size, and go on yearly producing an im- 

 mense number or spores, in some cases for probably more than 

 a century. This is one of the most wonderful and interesting 

 developments of plant life, the true history of which has only 

 been so recently made out. 



Ferns prefer moist, shady places for their growth, and many 

 of the species adorn secluded glens, more especially if a water- 

 fall is near with its perpetual sprays of moisture. The total 

 number of distinct species known in the British Islands is only 

 about forty, including some seventeen genera. They are general 

 favourites for the beauty of their frond foliage, and are much 

 cultivated. Very many numerous varieties have been detected 

 in their native habitats, and many other forms have been 

 grown from the spores by enthusiastic cultivators of them, and 

 a good many interesting works have been published about them. 



EquisetincE or Horsetails. — Some ten species of this genus are 

 known in the British Islands. The stem grows a horizontal 

 subterranean much-branched Rhizome, from which the sub- 

 aenal shoots grow upright, mostly herbaceous, generally green 

 in colour, and their surface is ribbed. They grow in moist, 

 springy places, and some few of them may be met with by 

 ditches and in wet places on the maritime cliffs. 



Lycopodiiue or Club- Mosses are only represented in Britain by 

 six species. They grow with slender much-branched erect or 

 horizontal leafy stems, spreading on the surface of the ground. 

 They are mostly natives of damp moors and hilly districts. 



