927 



was the numberless young plants from the quantity of the seed 

 sown. In some weeks this moss began to appear to the naked eye 

 like small scales, which gradually enlarged : they were generally of a 

 roundish figure, somewhat bilobate, but sometimes more irregular; 

 they were of a membranous substance, like some of the small lichens 

 or liverworts, for which they might readily be mistaken, and of a dark 

 green colour. At last there arises from this membrane a small leaf, 

 different from it in colour and appearance, and shortly after another 

 still more different. Now each succeeding leaf grows larger than the 

 last, till they attain the full size, and are complete in all their parts 

 and discriminating characters of their respective species." 



Several figures accompany the paper, showing the marchantimor- 

 phous pro-embryo, and the mode in which the first circinate frond 

 aiises from it. We can say but little in commendation of these illus- 

 trations. Knowing what they propose to represent, we at once recog- 

 nize them, but we doubt their affording any clear idea to those who 

 were not previously perfectly familiar with the objects themselves. 



The tenth volume of the ' Transactions of the Royal Society of 

 Edinburgh,' dated 1826, contains a paper on the germination of ferns, 

 very much more elaborate and precise than either of the preceding. It is 

 from the pen of the Rev. John Macvicar, of Dundee, and correctly 

 figures and describes the pro-embryo in its earliest stages. 



The first volume of the ' Magazine of Botany and Zoology,' dated 

 1837, contains a paper intituled 'Observations on the Germination of 

 Ferns,' by Mr. J. Henderson. This is somewhat more diffuse and 

 more explanatory than that last mentioned : it is however principally 

 horticultural, containing ample directions for the cultivation of these 

 minute vegetations. The description of the first germination and 

 also the figures are better than any previously noticed : the former we 

 now extract. 



" The first trace of germination is indicated by the appearance of 

 a number of exceedingly minute green specks on the surface of the 

 mould : if one of these is placed under a microscope, it will be 

 found that the sporule has burst open into two nearly equal halves, 

 and a small greenish body occupies the lacerated orifice. This is, as 

 far as I can ascertain, a single cellule, the inert body which was con- 

 tained in the sporule called into life. The sporule is therefore com- 

 posed of two parts, namely, the external integument and the internal 

 cellule. The latter swelling beyond the capacity of the former bursts 

 it open, and is then elongated a little beyond the ruptured edges of 

 the integument. From the anterior apex of this primordial cellule 



