38 HISTORY OF BRITISH MOSSES. 



are instances in wliicli they are found to be angular; in 

 the Extinguisher Moss they are marked with circular de- 

 pressions, while in others they are rough in their nature. 

 We find on examination they are widely different from 

 true seeds of the higher plants, as they "have no integu- 

 ment or embryo, consequently no radicle or plumule. The 

 sporule is in itself a homogeneous substance, producing 

 indifferently from its surface, roots and stems." An in- 

 genious writer on Mosses, De Beauvois, maintained that 

 the green powder in the body of the capsule was pollen, and 

 that the true seeds were to be found attached to the colu- 

 mella, — a theory ably refuted by Mr. BroAvn in vol. x. of 

 the ' Linnsean Transactions.' 



Our readers are all familiar with the germination of the 

 bean or other large seed, which have attached above or 

 below ground two fleshy bodies, known to botanists as the 

 cotyledons. These contain the supply of nourishment 

 necessary to maintain in life the plant till the root has 

 sufficient vigour to draw its food from the soil, when they 

 disappear. In the phenomena that take place during the 

 development of the young Moss, we will see a marked dif- 

 ference in the two cases. 



Meese and Hedwig — especially the latter — towards the 



