40 ELEMENTARY OEQANS OP PLANTS. 



collection of mere dustlike spots or lines of reproductive mat- 

 ter, situated on the margin or under surface of the frond. 



44. But the structure of Ferns is complexity itself when 

 contrasted with the beautiful simplicity of the tribes of plants 

 beneath them. When we come to examine the Mosses — those 

 miniature representations of the arborescent forms of nobler 

 plants — we are struck with the extreme delicacy, simplicity, 

 and exquisite beauty of their structure. There is a certain 

 degree of solidity about the organization of forest-trees, flow- 

 ering-plants, and ferns, the result of different amounts of 

 ligneous matter or woody fibre entering into their composition. 

 These substances impart strength and stability to the vegeta- 

 ble fabrics, and plants so organized will grow to a considerable 

 height. But mosses are wholly cellular in their organization, 

 and, for this reason, never rise more than a few inches above 

 the ground. They usually possess a sort of stem, around 

 which their minute leaves are arranged with the greatest regu- 

 larity. These minute leaves, when examined carefully with 

 a microscope, are seen to have an entire and sometimes serrat- 

 ed margin, and to contain condensed cells in the form of ribs 

 or nerves. Their fructification is contained in little capsules, 

 or urn-shaped bodies, which are borne on the summit of their 

 filiform fruit-stalks or setae. These capsules contain the mi- 

 nute spores or reproductive matter. The beautiful mechanism 

 by which its dispersion is effected will be described another 

 time. Few common objects appear more interesting than the 

 little mosses growing on the bark of trees or barren rocks, 

 amidst the gloom and desolation of winter, which require neither 

 skill nor the assistance of instruments for the detection of 



