HISTORY OF THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



auxiliary pistils, but docs not pretend absolutely 

 to determine their function, and Sir J. E. Smith 

 thinks they may perhaps serve in either case the 

 purpose of calyx or of corolla, or of both. But 

 however this may be, the parts of the flower 

 soon begin to assume a different appearance as 

 the process of fructification advances, the fine 

 and pointed substances expanding into a sort of 

 lengthened cone, invested by a thin and mem- 

 braneous integument, which is adherent at the 

 base and summit, but inflated towards the mid- 

 dle, and which finally separates horizontally into 

 two distinct portions. Tlie under portion, which 

 is placed within tlie fence, remains, as before, 

 attached to the base of the fructification, and is 

 called the sheath, while the upper portion ad- 

 lieres also, as before, to the summit of fructification, 

 which it still partially invests in the form of an 

 extinguisher. In this stage it has been called 

 by some a calyx, by others a corolla. But its 

 resemblance to either is so extremely slight, as 

 scarcely to justify the application of the terra. 

 It is more generally known, however, by the 

 appellation of the calyptra or veil, a term suf- 

 ficiently expressive of at least part of its functions, 

 marking, as it does, a globular or urn-shaped ves- 

 sel, which is the capsule of the mosses. In some 

 species, this capsule is sessile, or very nearly so, 

 as in phascum muticum, but in by far the great- 

 est number it is elevated upon a fine and often 

 capillary, but conspicuous pedicle, as in pofy- 

 trichum commune; sometimes it is erect, and 

 sometimes drooping, nodding, or pendulous. 

 The external surface is generally smooth, but 

 sometimes it is marked with longitudinal fur- 

 rows, being, when in a young state, somewhat 

 white or green, but when in a mature state, 

 brown red or yellow. Like the capsules which 

 they support, the pedicles are sometimes erect, 

 as in Bryum a/lindricum, and sometimes bent, 

 as in Bryum hornum. They are generally soli- 

 tary, but sometimes also aggregate, as in Brt/tim 

 liffulatum, in which it is no unusual thing to 

 find five or six of them issuing from the same 

 point. In some species, they are so very short, 

 as to be scarcely perceptible, and in others they 

 are from one to three inches in length. The 

 surface is generally smooth and shining, though 

 sometimes it is rough. Its colour is sometimes 

 white and pellucid, while in a ripened state it 

 becomes brown, yellow, purple, or red. At the 

 base it is almost always sheathed by a thin and 

 membraneous substance, the lower portion of 

 the original veil, and sometimes it is slightly 

 bulbous. At the summit it is also often dis- 

 tended into a larger bunch or protuberance, of 

 a globular or oval form, upon which the capsule 

 sits, as in the genus splachnum, which protu- 

 berance is denominated the apophysis. The 

 mouth of the capsule is externally covered with 

 an operculum or lid, assuming, in different ppe- 



cies a variety of different forms, and detaching 

 itself horizontally when ripe. Sometimes it is 

 flat, hemispherical, generally conical or acute. 

 In its position it is erect, or oblique, or bent, or 

 crooked ; on its surface it is smooth, or straited ; 

 in its colour brown, red, or scarlet, when ripe. 

 If this bud is stripped off, or detaches itself spon- 

 taneously, the mouth of the capsule is then 

 found for the most part to be internally fur- 

 nished with one or more rows of fine teeth, in 

 number four, or a multiple of four, named tlie 

 peristome, sometimes united into one set, and 

 sometimes divided into several. In some 

 families, however, it consists of a single row of 

 teeth only, and in others it is altogether want- 

 ing, as in the sphagnum. The number of the teeth 

 is also variable in different genera, though gen- 

 erally uniform in the same. In their ripened 

 state, they assume a tinge of brown, red, or 

 yellow, as does also the lip of the urn or cap- 

 sule in which they are inserted. Within the 

 urn, and in the direction of its longitudinal axis, 

 there is situated a slender and cylindrical sub- 

 stance, as seen figure b, which seems to be a pro- 

 longation of the pedicle passing through the 

 whole extent of the um, and perforating both 

 bud and veil. This organ is designated by the 

 name of the column, and its summit, which 

 forms the apex of the flower, is regarded by 

 Iledwig as the style of the mosses. As the um 

 and column are concentric, there is formed by 

 consequence, between the inner surface of the 

 one, and the outer surface of the others, a small 

 and cylindrical cavity, which in the mature state 

 of the fructification is filled with a fine powder, 

 consisting of a multitude of spherical granules, 

 of a brown, yellow, or greenish colour, generally 

 smooth, but sometimes also dotted or prickly. 

 These granules are the seeds of the mosses, from 

 the sowing of which Iledwig obtained a crop 

 of young mosses, in all respect similar to the 

 parent plants. Such is a short sketch of the 

 fi-uctification of the mosses, according to the 

 observations of Iledwig, and of the theory 

 founded upon them, namely, tliat the mosses are, 

 with very few exceptions, either monoecious or 

 diwcious plants, furnished with all organs essen- 

 tia] to the constitution of a flower, and produc- 

 ing perfect seed ; a theory that seems at least 

 founded on fact, and that has obtained the ap- 

 probation of many succeeding botanists. Others, 

 again, deny all the cryptogamic class the organs 

 of fructification properly so called. Thus Riclmrd 

 remarks: — 



" Wu agree witli Ncckcr in considering the 

 plants designated by the name of cryptogamus 

 as -entirelj' destitute of sexual organs, and are 

 of opinion that nothing in them can reasonably 

 be compared to these parts as they exist in phan- 

 erogamous plants." 



A reproductive corpuscle of a fei-n or a mush- 



