FRUCTIFICATION. 31 



By referring to a preceding paragraph in this chapter, 

 the reader will find that what is called the female flower 

 in the bud, has been compared to the pistil of the more 

 perfect plants. It is one or more of these that is developed 

 into the capsule, but the way in which this is done shows 

 that there is no proper analogy between the two : among 

 flowering plants, the germen or lowest part becomes the 

 seed-vessel, whereas in Mosses it is the summit or apex 

 that swells and becomes the receptacle for the seeds or 

 spores. Those jf;w;^?7//f/^a that are to form the future 

 capsules, as they advance in growth, become covered with 

 a thin transparent membrane, beneath which a stem — the 

 young seta — is seen to be developed, and the germen or 

 capsule gradually swells and is pushed up on the summit. 

 As this process goes on, the membrane separates transversely, 

 the lower part decaying, and the upper adhering to the young 

 capsule, to which it remahis attached till the capsule is more 

 or less matured, when it is known as the calijptra, or veil. 



Let us now examine a little in detail this beautiful ob- 

 ject — the perfect capsule witli its accessory parts, proceed- 

 ing upwards. Though not very evident in many instances, . 

 it is, with few exceptions, supported on a pedicel or foot- 

 stalk, called the seta, from the side or summit of the branches, 



