54 



It therefore, partakes of the structural character of the ovules (Figures ±4 

 to 41"^ and of the scales, but is more closely allied to the latter as it encloses an 

 oil ca\-it\- from its very earliest stage of growth, and so is, perhaps, either a laidi- 

 mentar}- organ with a past function or an intermediar}- organ between some higher 

 development not yet evolved, and thus its exact function to-day is not easy to 

 determine (vide remarks under Angiosperms v. Gymnosperms). After dehiscence 

 it is generally found to have developed at least one large oil cavity, and sometimes 

 one or two smaller ones, the contents of which resinises as the fruit ages. 



Flfnre 40. — Loupitudinal M-ction through 9 amentum 

 and subtending df-currcnt leaves. Tht* 

 n-ntral columella is s'jcn to be_ more 

 developed than the ovules at this' staqe. 

 and to exceed the height of the thickening 

 of the left ^porophyll. C. Muellfri, x 13. 



Figure 41. — Longitudinal section -further illustrating 

 feature of Figure 40. C. Mucileri, x 13 



(See also columella in Figures 21-4.) 



The position of these columella, it would seem, may be said to correspond 

 with that of the placenta of some Angiosperms ; and for the ovules in the process 

 of time to extend beyond the base of the sporoph}!! and become adnate to this 

 central partition for preference does not require, to our mind, a botanical cataclysm 

 of nature, but rather an easy process. 



It may, therefore, be possible that we have here, either by evolution or 

 mutation, the forerunner in the origin of some of the organs of reproduction of 

 the Angiosperms, more especially the placenta, a,nd, by a jjrocess of elongation, 

 perhaps, the pistil. 



