134 MOSSES AND LIVERWORTS 



admitted that we have here a most striking 

 instance of the way in which, at certain points in 

 their life-history, the two tribes of plants dove- 

 tail, so to speak, into one another, and the in- 

 ference seems naturally to suggest itself that, 

 possibly at some time, long ages ago, they may 

 have been still more closely connected. 



As there is no lid (operculwn) to the liverwort 

 capsule, so, of course, there is no need for anything 

 corresponding to the ring (annulus) . And again, 

 the mode in which the capsule opens makes a 

 peristome useless, for the complete rupture of the 

 capsule walls at once liberates the spores. While, 

 therefore, the form of the open capsule, as seen in 

 the microscope, is very beautiful, and its crimson 

 colouring is even richer and more striking than 

 in the majority of moss capsules, the interest 

 attaching to it cannot compare with that which 

 the urn-tipped stalks of the moss tribe always 

 arouse. 



Spores and Elaters. When the contents of a 

 ripe capsule are examined under a high-pOAver 

 lens, another very noticeable difference between 

 the mosses and the liverworts is frequently brought 

 to light. The spores themselves are every whit as 

 small as the spores of a moss, and are commonly 

 round in form, while sometimes, when highly 

 magnified, they are seen to be slightly roughened, 

 like those represented at Plate IX. fig. 15, which, 

 by the way, are unusually large. In the case of 



