112 REPORT— 1851. 



to be spoken of presently. The cavity of the spore is filled with granular 

 mucilage. 



Wiien the spore is placed in favourable circumstances for germination it 

 begins to swell up, and if the contents be examined with the microscope, a 

 few minute cells will soon. be found to have become developed in the muci- 

 lage. This cell-formation commences at a determinate spot upon the inner 

 coat of the spore, the cells being so firmly applied that they appear blended 

 with this inner membrane. Tiie cell-formation goes on till an obtuse conical 

 process is developed, which breaks through the outer tough coat of the spore, 

 and this process is recognized as the germinal body or keim-korper, corre- 

 sponding to the pro-embryo of the other Cryptogams. From this, which at 

 this period does not by any means fill the cavity of the spore with its lower 

 portion, an ovate process is produced, at first obliquely directed upwards, the 

 bud of the future stem, and a conical process taking the opposite direction 

 representing tlie radicle. On the ascending process a distinction can soon be 

 observed between the terminal bud, a little oval body, and a short thread-like 

 stem on which it is supported ; as the bud opens, the leaves appear in pairs. 



At the conclusion of the paper Dr. Miiller offers some remarks on the 

 evidence with respect to the import of the spores, the substance of which may 

 be transcribed. " Up to tiie present time it remains doubtful what purpose 

 is served by the antheridium-spore. Some persons maintain one opinion, 

 others another. One author declares he has seen it germinate, another that 

 he has never been able to do so. Kaulfuss* relates that Fox sowed Lye. 

 Selago, and Lindsay L. cernuum with success, and that L. clavatuni sprung 

 up abundantly with Willdenow. With himself it did not succeed ; but the 

 garden-inspector. Otto of Berlin, raised L. pygmceum several years in suc- 

 cession from seed. The last case however is readily explicable, since 

 L. pygmceum possesses oophoridia." 



Goppertf however states that he has seen the development of young 

 plants from antheridium-spores in L. denticulatum. Dr. Miiller expresses 

 some doubt as to whether the observation was absolutely exact, since Gop- 

 pert never mentions seeing a young plant actually adherent to an antheridium- 

 spore, neither does he give the structure of the leaf, and the young plant he 

 figures closely resembles a Fissidens, frequently springing up in flower-pots 

 in green-houses. In his own attempts to raise plants from antheridium- 

 spores. Dr. Miiller in every case failed. He does not deny, however, that 

 they may be capable of germination, especially as some Lycopodiaceae 

 appear to be devoid of oophoridia. 



In 1849 appeared M. Hofmeister's notice on the fructification and germi- 

 nation of the higher CryptogamiaJ, in which he indicated the existence on 

 the pro-embryo of Sclaginella, of a number of peculiar organs, composed of 

 four papilliform cells, enclosing a large globular cell in the centre. In one 

 of these large spherical cells the young plant is produced. The nature of 

 the structure was only briefly described in this paper for the purpose of 

 showing its analogy with what occurs in Salvinia. 



In 1850 Dr. Mettenius§ published an essay on the Propagation of the 

 Vascular Cryptogams, and in this is to be found a full description of the 

 organs mentioned by Hofmeister and altogether overlooked by Dr. C. Miiller. 



* Das Wesen der Farrenkrauter. Leipzig, 1827. 



t Uebers. der Arbeiten und Verand. der scfilesischen Geseilscli. fiii- vaterf. Kultur, 1841 und 

 1845. 

 t Bot. Zeitung, Nov. 9, 1849. § Beitrage zur Botanik. Heidelberg, 1850. 



