346 SEXUALITY OF VEGETABLES. CHAP. VI. 



of the Mosses ; and it claims at least a fair and im- 

 partial consideration, as the cones and stars of Hed- 

 wig are by no means universal. I begin, however, 

 to suspect that M. Beauvois has, like Dillenius and 

 Linnaeus, misapprehended the true and natural cha- 

 racter of the two containing organs respectively ; 

 and that the powder of the column is the pollen, 

 and the powder of the urn the seed. My reasons 

 are the following: 1st, Because the granules of 

 the column are much smaller than the granules of 

 the capsule, and therefore more analogous to the 

 character of pollen in general. 2dly, Because like 

 the pollen they are observable only at a certain 

 period of the plant's growth ; that is about the time 

 of the fall of the operculum, or a little before it, 

 so that if you look for them sooner you tind only 

 a gelatinous mass, and if later, they are gone. 

 3dly, Because the column after discharging its 

 contained granules becomes, like the anthers of 

 other plants, shrunk and shrivelled up long before 

 the granules of the capsule are ejected. 



Perhaps an objector may say that the stamens are 

 on this supposition contained within the pistils, 

 which is contrary to all analogy. But why may 

 not the Mosses be allowed to form an exception, if 

 no other plants do, as they are in almost all other 

 respects confessedly anomalous. And if the urn 

 contains the pollen, and the column the seed, then 

 do the Mosses present an anomaly much more 

 wonderful than the eccentric position of the fruit ; 



