(;i:h'.yix.\Tio\ 271 



the u|)|)(--i' part of the cinbrv'o and fnun the lower 

 part is developed the " foot," a little connectinLj- 

 link between the i^reeii prolhailus and the hal)\- 

 fern which serves to nurse the little plant until two 

 or more leaves have been produced ; the rcjots also 

 ;^row from the same jiart of the embr)'o. I 

 imaj^ine that fern spores could be *,frown and 

 watched throui^h all their various statics even b}' 

 those of m_v readers who dwell in towns, as a bell 

 <jlass would maintain the reciuisite damijncss and 

 shelter the )'oun^; ferns from smok}' air. 



I.astl\- 1 will describe an even simpler form of 

 spore development. At an\- season of the }-ear wc 

 ma)' find the ca[)sule fruit of mosses (Cal}'ptra, Gr. 

 Kaliiptra, a veil), a ver\- common one bcinc:;; the 

 hair moss (Toh-trichum, (ir. roliitriclios, ha\ini;" 

 much hair), borne upon Ioul;" wirv' stalks. Inside 

 the ca[3sule we shall find a lart^e quantit\- of small 

 greenish bodies ; these are the spores, which of 

 course fall £)ut when the spore-case is blown by the 

 wind, and being light are easily carried awa)' and 

 at length find a resting-place in some damp nook 

 or shad}- bank. In such a place the\' find the 

 conditions necessar}- for their germination, which 



