THE COMMON BRACKEN 85 



hairs, a number of small projecting bodies, which can be made 

 out to some extent with a lens. At the front of the prothallus, 

 just behind the notch of the " heart," there are several short 

 finger-like organs on the cushion, which may be seen by washing 

 the soil from the underside and holding the prothallus up to the 

 light. These bodies the egg-pockets or archegonia are minute 

 flasks, each with a swollen base embedded in the prothallus, 

 and containing an egg-cell, and a curved neck which points towards 

 the narrow hinder end of the prothallus. Behind these egg-con- 

 taining organs there are more numerous smaller bodies, seen as 

 round dots scattered over the prothallus ; these produce the sperms, 

 or male cells, and are called the sperm-pockets or antheridia. 



After a month or two you will see a few small leaves appearing 

 on each prothallus. The plants may then be dug out of the 

 peat with the point of a knife and " pricked out," like seedlings, 

 in pots of soil, to give them more room for growth. If the pro- 

 thalli are too thickly crowded it is as well to thin them out. 

 Finally, the plants may be removed to a rockery outdoors, after 

 they have been " hardened " by removing the glass panes that 

 had covered them. 



You will notice that the young fern leaves grow from the 

 notch at the front of the prothallus, and you can trace them to 

 the underside, where the young roots also arise. The early 

 development of the young fern-plant can only be followed out 

 by using the microscope, but the following is an outline of the 

 process. The egg is fertilised by a sperm, which swims into the 

 neck of an egg-pocket, and grows into an embryo in which four 

 parts can soon be made out : (i) the young root which grows 

 into the soil ; (2) the first leaf, which grows forward and turns 

 up into the air when it reaches the notch of the prothallus ; (3) 

 the young stem, which grows slowly at first ; (4) a special ab- 

 sorbing organ which remains embedded in the prothallus and 

 draws from it food to nourish the young plant. Before very 

 long the prothallus dies and decays ; the first root also dies and 

 the later roots arise from the stem. The young fern is rather ex- 

 ceptional among green plants in being able to turn green even 

 when kept in total darkness, though it does not live long unless 

 it gets light ; the same is true of pine and a few other seedlings, 



