102 MOSSES AND LIVERWORTS 



generally belonging to plants of the other tribe. 

 From all of which facts we are almost driven to 

 the conclusion that in long past ages of the 

 world's history the connection between them was 

 much closer than it is now. This dovetailing, 

 as we may call it, of the two tribes, forms a very 

 interesting feature in the life-history of the liver- 

 worts, and we shall from time to time, as our 

 story is unfolded, come across striking instances 

 of it. 



The name "Liverwort" (which is the English 

 equivalent for the botanical form Hepaticce) 

 calls for a few words of notice. In the older 

 books it is applied to comparatively few of the 

 plants that we understand by the term now, the 

 distinctive appellation given to most of them being 

 then " Jungermannia." At the present day, how- 

 ever, " Liverwort " has come to be applied to 

 the tribe as a whole, and "Jungermannia " is now 

 only used as the scientific name of one genus alone. 

 The word " Liverwort " comes to us from times 

 when medical science was comparatively in its 

 youth, and when a great many specifics were in 

 vogue which, in the light of our more advanced 

 knowledge, have lost their efficacy. The suffix 

 "wort" is the Saxon equivalent for "plant," so that 

 the word may be written " Liver-plants " ; that is, 

 plants which in some way are associated with 

 the liver. The following sentence, taken from the 

 " Encyclopaedia Britannica," gives concisely the 



