BOTANY. 89 
HEPATIC/E. 
The Hepaticze, commonly known as Liverworts, are small 
plants of varied forms f found on damp ground, moist parts 
of trees, or floating on the water. The lowest representa- 
tives consist simply of a single layer of cells forming a 
green membrane or patch, as in Anthroceros (Fig. 113), or 
there is a double layer of cells, as seen in Spheerocarpus. 
In Marchantia (Fig. dies the layers of cells are more 
numerous and thicker than in the lower forms just men- 
tioned, and the upper lower surfaces are clothed with 
a skin or epidermis, on the upper surface of which stomata 
are seen; stomata are holes in the epidermis through 
which air can pass from the outside of the plant to the 
inside. -In the middle of the frond or body of the Riccia 
a distinct line or midrib is seen. This line in the Junger- 
mannia (Fig. 116) becomes a well- defined stem, with leafy 
appendages on each side. The Jungermannize are therefore 
the first plants in which we meet with the structures so 
characteristic of higher plants, viz, the stem and leaves; 
the apparent stems of the Fucoide and Floride being 
composed only of a greater number of denser cells, not 
essentially different from the adjacent parts either in struc- 
ture or function. While the higher forms of Liverworts, in 
having stems and leaves, exhibit a marked progress, the 
lower forms in their cellular structure differ in no way from 
the Green Alge. The structure of the reproductive appa- 
ratus, however, in all Liverworts is much more complex 
than that of the Algae. In the concave receptacles, sup- 
ported by stalks, as seen in Marchantia (Fig. 114), are 
found oval cellular bodies, the so-called Antheridia (Fig. 
120, C), which contain spiral filaments (Fig. 120, D) capable 
of moving after having escaped from the Antheridia. The 
convex-lobed bodies terminating the stalks of the same 
plant (Fig. 115) contain flask-shaped bodies, the Archegonia 
