18 H0FME1STER, ON 



cells and two spores only are formed in some of the mother- 

 cells, in which case the two spores are double the usual 

 size ; this is similar to what occasionally takes place in the 

 formation of the pollen of many phamogams. When the 

 upper four-fifth parts of the long cylindrical fruit have be- 

 come filled with ripe spores, the wall, which assumes a dark 

 brown colour as soon as it contains ripe spores, splits lon- 

 gitudinally into two halves, and the spores which have be- 

 come free by the absorption of the walls of the mother-cells 

 are dispersed. These spores are of a brownish-yellow 

 colour in Anthoceros lavis, and somewhat darker in Antho- 

 ceros punctatus. 



Both species are also reproduced by buds. These are 

 formed in the interior of the tissue of the stem in the follow- 

 ing manner : The contents of individual cells of that tissue, 

 after a slight contraction of the entire upper surface, become 

 clothed with a new membrane (PI. I, fig. 11), and the 

 new cell thus formed becomes transformed into a cellular 

 body by a series of divisions following the course of 

 those which occur in the cell-multiplication of young shoots 

 (PI. I, figs. 12, 17). This cellular body sometimes com- 

 mences its own independent development by the protrusion 

 of radicular hairs, even Avhilst fully enclosed in the cellular 

 tissue (PL I, fig. 13). The contents of the cells of very 

 young buds consist of colourless protoplasm ; the cells of 

 older buds are filled with numberless small starch- granules, 

 between which is seen a dark bluish-green colouring 

 matter, composed of extremely minute particles. The buds 

 are usually set free by the disintegration of the tissue sur- 

 rounding them, which takes place as the stem slowly 

 decays from back to front. If they remain very long en- 

 closed in the tissue of the stem, a discoloration of, the 

 parenchyma commences in their middle, which is followed 

 by the breaking up of the bud into its component cells, and 

 this latter process advancing gradually to the periplieiy 

 ultimately destroys the bud! The development of the 

 spores of Anthoceros is a process which has been the subject 

 of very many observations (Mohl. sup. ' Nageli Zeitschr. 

 f. Botanik,' II. 2; Schacht, 'Berl. Bot. Zeit., S 1850, 24 

 2C). The observers just cited agree with me as to the 



