REPRODUCTION. 211 



particulars in regard to the process of fertilization among gymno- 

 sperms. A pollen-grain (h) is carried by the wind to the opening 

 left in the integument of the embryo, namely, the micropylar 

 opening (&). This is made possible by the position of the ovules at 

 the inner side of the base of the seminiferous scale, as shown in 

 Fig. 133. The scales mutually cover and protect each other, yet 

 the pollen-grains may get between them at certain times. At first 

 the pollen-grain is found near the upper part of the seminiferous 

 scale adhering to a sticky fluid which is secreted at this time. 

 This fluid is carried downward, and with it the pollen-grain. Soon 

 the pollen-tube begins to form and passes through the nucellus (b &), 

 finally reaching the archegonia. (The time intervening between 

 pollination and fertilization is an entire year for many gymno- 

 sperms.) e and e' (Fig. 131) show the immediate results of fertil- 

 ization. In e' the egg- cell of the archegonium has developed into 

 a filamentous structure (/"), the " suspensor," on the end of which 

 the embryo is formed. The suspensor serves to push the embryo 

 into the endosperm. The structure of the archegonia, as well as 

 the fact that the embryo-sac is filled with endosperm before fertil- 

 ization, places the gymnosperms nearer to the vascular cryptogams 

 than to the angiosperms. Such a relative position cannot be denied, 

 but the recognition of such a relation is simply a process of thought 

 w r hich the comparative study of the plant-series creates in our 

 minds ; that such a series is genetic is an unverified postulate of the 

 dogmatic teaching of descent which allows fantasy to supplant 

 that which empirical investigations leave unanswered. 



As has already been observed, the embryo of gymnosperms is 

 not unprotected, as the name would indicate. Among pines and 

 firs, for example, the leaf-organs which bear the ovules, hence the 

 4 ' carpides " or " carpels, ' ' are enabled by their position and ar- 

 rangement to cover each other. The 

 morphological significance of the cone- 

 scales was formerly the cause of con- 

 siderable scientific controversy. A 

 small leaf -scale (keel) supports the 

 much larger seminiferous scale as a 

 ventral excrescence. In Fig. ^^ 

 A, d represents the leaf -scale; the 

 large seminiferous scale in B bears the ovules b 5, which later form. 



