LIVERWORTS 117 



the surface of the soil with a mass of leathery 

 green substance, which is far from being a wel- 

 come sight to the gardener. On looking more 

 closely at one of these fronds, two or three 

 crescent-shaped growths will be observed on its 

 face, and if one of these is examined with a fairly 

 good glass it will reveal itself as a tiny pocket, 

 inside which are a number of very diminutive 

 green bodies ; these are small buds or gemma, 

 corresponding to the" similar developments with 

 which we met in the mosses, and from which 

 future plants will spring. I shall have some- 

 thing more to say on this head later on. 



Life-history. I propose now to trace the various 

 stages in the life-history of the liverworts, as I 

 have already done with the mosses, and it will 

 in this way be possible to learn more of their 

 distinguishing characteristics than could be done 

 by any mere set of definitions ; and incidentally 

 we shall be able to note the special points of 

 resemblance and dissimilarity in the members 

 of the two tribes. And on the threshold of the 

 subject we are met by the fact that the earliest 

 stages of growth in the liverworts are by no means 

 so easily observed as in the case of their more 

 aristocratic connections. And though, at first 

 sight, this may seem strange, yet a little con- 

 sideration will convince us that, on evolutionary 

 principles, it is what we might expect, if mosses 

 represent the more highly developed community. 



