CRYPTOGAMOUS PLANTS. ^51 



takes place by shoots or suckers, as by germination of 

 seed ; even admitting this last hypothesis, the fact has 

 not yet been observed in detail. 



Section X. 

 OfAlgce. 



In the same manner as in the preceding article I have 

 spoken, under the collective name of Fungi, of all the 

 ( ryptogamae of a fungous nature ; here also I shall 

 combine under the name of Algae all cellular aquatic 

 plants. I do not pretend to give this definition as a strict 

 classification, but the sense in which it is here taken, 

 though very vague, is sufficient for my present purpose. 

 Considering these plants collectively, with regard to 

 fecundation, we see, that if they are provided with a 

 fructifying apparatus, they must have it organized in a 

 particular manner ; their pollen, or at least the fovilla, 

 must be able to reach the ovules through the water ; this, 

 perhaps, happens in the Characeae : or the' fecundating 

 matter is inclosed in the same cavities as the ovules, or 

 transmitted to these cavities by particular canals, which 

 perhaps is the case in the Thalassiophytae and Confervas ; 

 and even admitting that several groups of Algae are fur- 

 nished with fructifying organs variously formed, there 

 are others in which the most scrupulous investigation 

 has not been able to discover any vestige of sexual or- 

 gans, and which only appear to be reproduced by simple 

 division : such are the Batrachospermeae and Dia- 

 tomeae. 



We shall notice these different groups without 



