LIVERWORTS 119 



wort (Chiloscyphus polyanthos), and also some 

 of one of the larger frondose liverworts, the 

 Large-leaved Liverwort (Pellia epiphylla), which, 

 as we have seen, grows on marshy ground, and 

 in the neighbourhood of streams. These spores 

 were sown on two pieces of sandstone (a hit of 

 broken flower-pot serves the purpose equally 

 well), which were placed under a bell-glass, and 

 kept constantly moist. The experiment did not 

 succeed so well with the first-named species as 

 with the other : but after waiting for nearly seven 

 weeks, I found one day that a thin green film 

 had appeared on the stone on which the spores had 

 been strewn. Under the microscope this proved 

 to consist of numerous extremely small cellular 

 bodies, one of which, highly magnified, is given 

 at Plate IX. fig. 1. Doubtless, in course of time, 

 had I been able to carry the matter so far, 

 these would have developed into plants. The 

 second of my two sowings was more successful, 

 for the spores of the frondose plant ultimately 

 gave rise to a few small flat, brownish-green 

 growths, one of which is drawn, on a somewhat 

 magnified scale, at Plate IX. fig. la; this 

 represents the intermediate stage in this species, 

 and from one of the cells at its upper margin 

 a plant would ultimately have sprung. 



It is in this matter of the germination of the 

 spores that we seem to come across the first 

 indication of the close relationship that exists 



