340 THE FLOKAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 



surface, and as they grow rapidly whilst supplied with moisture, the- 

 rapid extension of the plant, under such, circumstances, is readily 

 accounted for." 



This plant is not, however, propagated solely by these disk-like 

 buds; it being, in common with the whole class of Cryptogamia, or 

 flowerless plants, to which it belongs, multiplied also by minute 

 seeds, or, properly speaking, spores, contained in cases arranged 

 radially, or like the spokes of a wheel around a central body, termed 

 the pelt a, or shield, which is mounted on a long stalk. The curious 

 structures which are thus displayed by one of the most common of 

 the liverworts, and which, as we bave intimated, may be easily 

 studied with the aid of any good single microscope, are well calcu- 

 lated to impress the mind with the philosophical truth embodied in 

 the seeming paradox of a French writer, " that if the Autbor of 

 Nature is great in great things, he is exceedingly great in little 

 ones." 



We would gladly linger among the Cryptogamic plants, and 

 point out, amongst other marvels, the minute and wonderful ana- 

 tomy of the reproductive organs of the fern-tribe, particularly of 

 that division of the class termed by botanists, annulate, and of which 

 the common Polypody (Polypoclium vulgaris) may be taken as an 

 illustration. If we examine a leaf or frond of this plant, we shall 

 find that its back is studded with a number of round, green or 

 brown prominent spots, which are named by botanists, sori. 



Each of these sori is composed of a vast number of minute cap- 

 sules or theca?, which arise from the surface of the leaf, by very 

 short and slender footstalks, each capsule being filled with spores, 

 and furnished with an elastic ring or annulus, the office of which is, 

 by rupturing the capsule when it arrives at maturity, to scatter the 

 spores or seed-like grains in every direction. And it is an interest- 

 ing experiment to place a few of these, when nearly ripe, upon a 

 sheet of paper, exposed to the direct rays of the sun ; and, as they 

 become dry, to watch them with the microscope, ejecting on all 

 sides their innumerable germs. We cannot but admire this beauti- 

 ful application of a mechanical law to effect the dispersion of the 

 sporules ; indeed, if such a provision had not been made, it is far 

 from improbable that many of the species would have long since 

 been extinct ; seeing that, if in an artificial propagation of ferns, by 

 sowing the spores, the latter be allowed to fall too thickly on any 

 spot, the young plants to which they give birth soon interfere with 

 each other's growth, or, in the language of gardeners, " fog," so 

 that under these circumstances but few arrive at maturity. How 

 simply then, and yet how wisely, has Nature guarded against such a 

 contingency ! 



If from this digression we now turn to that division of the 

 vegetable kingdom to the illustration of which our paper is more 

 especially devoted, viz., the flowering plants, we shall find proofs 

 equally interesting with those already adduced, of the most admir- 

 able contrivance and design. 



Professing then to write only for those unacquainted with 

 botanical science, and the use of the microscope, we will select for 



