100 



THE SCIENCE OF LIFE. 



round its orifice. If now a section is made through it, 

 it will be seen to be a cavity lined with filaments, some 



of which p r o j e c t 

 through the pore. 

 The filaments, or an- 

 theridia, are chains 

 of cells containing 

 antlierozoids. These 

 are yellow oval bod- 

 ies, with two thread- 

 like appendages, 

 which, when liber- 

 ated by the bursting 

 of the cell, have a 

 spontaneous and rap- 

 id motion around the 

 sporangia, (or parent 

 cells of the germs,) 

 which they fecun- 

 date. These sporan- 

 gia are pear-shaped 

 bodies lying near the 



fiG. 35. section of receptacle of Fiicus platycarpus, 

 lined with filaments containing antheridial cells and walls of the Cavity, Or 



sporangia. 



receptacle, and each 



one produces, by fission, a cluster of eight cells, or octo- 

 spores. (Fig. 35.) 



5. Among the red Sea-weeds, or Rhodospermecz, are 

 various simple but beautiful forms, eagerly sought for by 

 sea-side collectors for albums. They live generally in 

 deeper water than other sea-weeds, and show their rich- 

 est tints when growing in the shade. The genus Poly- 



