VI.] 



ABOUT A FERN. 



99 



their edges is the future root, and the ascending- stem 

 (P) with its embryo leaves lies between these two large 

 fleshy leaves, or cotyledons (C, fig. 94), as botanists call 

 them. The seed is therefore a sort of bud containing 

 embryo stem and leaves, but a spore is simply a little 

 cell containing protoplasm, somewhat similar to those 

 simple cells we described in our first chapter. It is 

 impossible in a work like this to go into the scientific 

 details respecting the relative value of a spore and a 

 seed, but broadly it may be stated that a spore is 

 comparable to the pollen grain of a flowering plant. 



If we take a full-grown frond from a fern looking 

 out for one which has the under-surface ornamented 



FIG. 95. 



by these brown or black dots and shake it over a 

 sheet of white paper, a very large number of tiny 

 brown dots will fall on the paper. Now, if we care- 

 fully transfer a few of these to a glass slip and place 

 it under a low power of the microscope, we shall dis- 

 cover these brown dots to be roundish oval cases of 



