HEPATIC MOSSES. 363 



tile of November until the summer beat caused it to 

 disappear iu May, I have uniformly found the frons 

 thus covered by calyces. 



The Calyx, if such be the proper term, for the pro- 

 minently conspicuous part of this hepatic, is a most re- 

 markable globosely turbinate expansion of the frons, 

 of precisely the same consistence, enclosing, as it were, 

 in a capacious hollow space, the capsule, which rests 

 on the inner base or short contracted neck. This 

 expansion, when in full vigour, always assumes a 

 handsome turbinate form, and is open at top by a 

 small round aperture. It is perfectly inane (except- 

 ing the capsule at the bottom) and therefore suscepti- 

 ble of being pressed into various shapes by the 

 touch. In colour it agrees with the frons as well as 

 in structure. When the capsule ripens and assumes 

 its dark brown colour, it becomes visible through the 

 semi-transparent calyx, the hollow of which is, how- 

 ever, four times greater than the capsule. 



The Capsule appears to me to consist of a very 

 thin perfectly transparent membrane, closely filled 

 by an aggregation of rounded sporangia or seed ves- 

 sels, which are unconnected among themselves, and 

 only held together by this transparent membrane in 

 asphaerical shape. It is so entirely transparent, that 

 I conceived the sporangia to be nakedly aggregated, 

 until I attempted to separate them by the lancet. In 

 an iucipient stage, the colour of the capsule is appa- 

 rently dark green, which, however, is only owing to 

 that colour of the sporangia at that time ; for as these 

 ripen and become brown, the capsule assumes the 



