MAKSII lA OUADKIIT.I.IA. lork-I.F.AVi;!) MARSH lA. l :; 



or even men. Some families ^\ill ciulure for a thousand vi-ars, 

 while in the case of others a few hundred years are sufTicient for 

 their rise, growth, and final deeay. Our ])resent sjx'cies would 

 hardly seem to bo one that is on the decline; as, if it were, it 

 would probably not thri\e and sjjread so freely in the Cambrid'^e 

 location, already noticed. 



The .natural order, Miusiliacccr, which takes its name from 

 this genus, was styled Ilydroptcridis, or Water I'"erns, by 

 W'illdenow, and this is the name adopted by Dr. Grav in liis 

 " Manual of Botany." Lindley, on the contrar\-, who in all cases 

 endeavors to denominate the order by the name of some one 

 genus embraced by it, adopts the designation employed here, 

 which was gi\en to tlie order by R. P)rown in the same vear in 

 which Willdenow named it Hydropicridcs ; but in these matters 

 priority does not tell, as it docs in the case of a genus or species, 

 since the system to be followed by an author is a matter of 

 individual judgment. In the natural arrangement, the Marsi- 

 HaccYC arc placed nearer to the Lycopodiacac than to any other 

 cr\-ptogamic di\-ision. One of the genera, indeed, that (i Isoctcs, 

 has so much the character of both, that, while many authors 

 include it in Marsiliacccr, others place it in Lycopodlacccc. The 

 chief differences between Marsillacac and Lycopodiacccc, as 

 defined by Lindley, is that, while the latter have their spore- 

 cases one to three celled, and their reproductive bodies similar, 

 the ])lants of the former have their sj)ore-cases many celled, 

 and reproductive bodies dissimilar. These spore-cases, with 

 their contents, are matters of rrcat interest to vecretable biolo- 

 gists, some of whom, notably I'raun, I-Isprit b'al^re, llanstein, 

 and others, have distinguished themselves by the time and 

 research bestowed on the study of these jjlants. The best 

 account (;f them is, perhaps, found in Sachs' "Text Book of 

 Botany," although tliat given in Lindley s "Vegetable Kingdom." 

 chieily from Esprit Fabre, \\\\\ be found very concise. It 

 appears from these aulKors tluit the sporocarp\s (I'ig. i) or 

 l)epper-like capsules (.""rom whieli the name of "Bepperwort" 



