236 VEGETABLE ORGANOGRAPHY. 



have described, to germinate, the history oflsoetes would 

 have been completely elucidated ; but having quitted 

 Montpellier before I could do so, I am still in doubt 

 with regard to the nature of these two organs. On the 

 one hand, the extreme similitude of the three-ribbed 

 globules with the bodies which Brotero has seen ger- 

 minating, leads me to consider them as seeds ; but I have 

 always found them empty at the period of maturity, 

 which would seem to indicate that they are of a male 

 nature ; moreover, the powder of the central capsules, 

 which becomes brown and opaque at maturity, would 

 seem more to represent seeds. 



Gaertner and some other naturalists have considered 

 the Lycopodiaceae as devoid of sex, and furnished with 

 two kinds of seeds ; but this hardly probable opinion 

 must be confirmed or destroyed by experiments upon 

 the germination of the two kinds of powder. 



Section VI. 

 Of Mosses. 



Mosses are more distant from phanerogamous plants 

 than the preceding families, since they are devoid of ves- 

 sels and stomata ; they present, however, various affini- 

 ties with these plants in their organs of fructification, 

 which are better known than in any other cryptogamic 

 family. Hedwig has so extended the field of our know- 

 ledge with regard to Mosses, that, neglecting former opi- 

 nions, I shall limit myself to the exposition of his, and 

 only examine the later doubts and objections to the 

 works of this philosopher. 



