MOSSES 39 



less close inspection, unless with the help of a 

 glass. The fact that those given at fig. 7 of 

 Plate III. are thirty-one times, and those at 

 fig. 6 fifty-one times, larger than the originals, 

 will afford some idea of the microscopic size of 

 these bodies. It will easily be believed that in 

 order to examine such minute organisms properly 

 it is necessary to have recourse to the help of 

 a microscope, though, with a good magnifying- 

 glass, such as one of the platyscopic lenses 

 mentioned at page 151, they may be distinctly 

 seen, after their leafy coverings have been re- 

 moved. 



While, in the majority of mosses, the repro- 

 ductive organs are formed inside bud-like flowers, 

 as already described, this is not always so, for 

 sometimes they grow singly, or in clusters of 

 very few, in the axils of the ordinary leaves, or 

 in other positions, and in such cases are, of 

 course, not so easily found. Indeed, to meet 

 with them is then frequently a task calling for 

 the exercise of considerable care and patience; 

 and, needless to add, the help of a good glass 

 and dissecting-needles is a necessity. 



Fertilisation. When the fertilising organ is 

 ripe it bursts at its upper end, and discharges a 

 cloud of very minute cells, inside each one of 

 which is a still more minute spiral thread-like 

 body (antherozoid) ; this is the wonderful fertilising 

 medium to which reference has already been 



