6/0 MICROSCOPIC STRUCTURE OF HIGHER CRYPTOGAMS 



The * urn,' or ' capsule,' of mosses, filled with spores, and borne 

 at the top of a long footstalk that springs from the centre of a cluster 

 of leaves (fig. 508, A), is the ultimate result of an act of fertili- 

 sation ; for mosses, like liverworts, possess both antherids and 

 archegones. These organs are sometimes found in the same envelope, 



FIG. 509. Antherids and antherozoids of Polytnchum commune: A, group of 

 antherids, mingled with hairs and sterile filaments (paraphyses). Of the three 

 antherids, the central one is in the act of discharging its contents ; that on the 

 left is not yet mature ; while that on the right has already emptied itself, so that 

 the cellular structure of its walls becomes apparent B, cellular contents of an 

 antherid, previously to the development of the antherozoids ; C, the same, 

 showing the first appearance of the antherozoids ; D, the same, mature and 

 discharging the antherozoids. 



or perigone, sometimes on different parts of the same plant, some 

 times only on different individuals ; but in either case they are 

 usually situated close to the axis, among the bases of the leaves. 

 The antherids are globular, oval, or elongated bodies (fig. 509, A), 

 composed of aggregations of cells, of which the interior are ' sperm- 



