THE HIGHER CRYPTOGAMIA. 1 L5 



of the receptacle increases very considerably round the 

 base of each archegonium, so that these soon have the ap- 

 pearance of deep, almost cylindrical, cavities, sunk in the 

 under side of the receptacle (PL XVII, figs. 7, 8). The 

 fructification consists, as it were, of as many amalgamated 

 cornet-shaped masses of cellular tissue as there are 

 archegonia. The very considerable expansion of the cells 

 of these masses causes their margins, in half-developed 

 receptacles, to extend close to the point of origin of the 

 common fruit-stalk. 



The archegonia of Fegatella resemble those of Rebouillia 

 in the early and extensive development of their ventral 

 portion. Like the great number of liverworts whose 

 archegonia have to live through the winter, they exhibit the 

 early duplication of the cellular layer surrounding the central 

 cell of the ventral portion, and the extensive growth in 

 thickness of the wall of the young calyptra after the occur- 

 rence of impregnation (PI. XVI, fig. S). The neck is pro- 

 portionately long. 



The rudimentary fruit, when consisting only of a few 

 cells, may be very easily detached (PI. XVI, fig. 9). The 

 ladder-like arrangement of its cells, caused by the repeated 

 division of an apical cell by means of alternately inclined 

 septa, is uncommonly sharply defined. The growth of the 

 uppermost part of the young fruit in thickness, *. e. the 

 foundation of the capsule, commences at a very early period 

 (PI. XVI, fig. 10). The lower portion of the fruit-stem is 

 very slightly developed ; the formation of a knotty enlarge- 

 ment of its base is entirely suppressed. As observed by 

 Schmidel (' Icones plant.,' p. 121) and Bischoff, the stem 

 detaches itself spontaneously when the fruit is ripe from the 

 tissue in which it is inserted. The first archegonia of 

 Mar 'chantia polymorphs appear in like manner at the margin 

 of the young receptacle, usually eight in number, placed at 

 regular distances. Those at the hinder part of the recep- 

 tacle {i. e. turned away from the fore edge of the plant) 

 are developed, as in Rebouillia and Fegatella, much earlier 

 than those on the opposite part (PI. XV, figs. 11, 12). 

 Very soon after the appearance of the first archegonia new 

 ones are formed on the under side of the pileate receptacle, 



