23 



PROPAGATION, DEVELOPMENT, AND CULTURE. 



Naturally, Ferns are propagated by means of tlie 

 spores, of wliicli mention has been already made. These 

 spores, which are somewhat analogous to seeds, being, 

 like them, endowed with that mystery — the vital germ, 

 when placed under fitting conditions, become developed 

 into young plants ; but they diflFer from seeds in some 

 important particulars. 



All true seeds have a determinate structure. They 

 have an embryo, provided with special organs, namely, the 

 plumule, or germ of the ascending axis, the origin of the 

 stem, and the radicle, or germ of the descending axis, the 

 origin of the root. When a seed is planted, in whatever 

 position it may chance to have been deposited in the soil, 

 the young root or radicle strikes downwards, and the young 

 stem or plumule grows upwards. 



The Fern spores have none of these determinate parts, 

 but are, as it were, homogeneous atoms ; and when placed 

 under circumstances which induce germination, that part 



