L Y C 



1. Y C 



{emi-pellucid (lone, as happen to have circular fpots in them, 

 refembliiig iti colour the eye of that animal. 



LYCOPODIOIDES, in Botany. See the following 

 article. 



LYCOPODIUM, from Xvxo.;, a ivolf, and -za-, the foot, 

 from the incurved, and often finger-like, ftiape of the fpikes 

 or extreme branches. Chib-mofs, or Wolf's-claw. — Linn. 

 Gen. 561. Schreb. 753. Mart. Mill. Did. v. ;;. Sm. FI. 

 Brit. 1 108. Swartz. Fil. 174. Brown Prodr. Nov. Holl. 

 V. 1. 165. Jufl". 12. Lamarck Illuftr. t. 872. Michaux Bo- 

 real-Amer. v. 2. 282. Dill. Mufc. 441. (Lycopodioides ; 

 Dill. Miifc. 462. Selago ; ibid. 43J. Selaginoidcs ; ibid. 

 460.) — Clafs and order, Cryptogamia Mufc't, Linn. Crypt. 

 jUifcellanen, Schreb. Crypt. Filices, Smith. Crypt. Lycopo- 

 Jinfx, Swartz. — Nat. Ord. Mujci, Linn. Dill. Mufcifpurii, 

 JufT. Lycopodinett, Brown. 



EfT. Ch. Capfules axillary, feflile, naked, moftly foli- 

 tary, of one cell ; fome kidney-fhaped, of two elaftic valves, 

 and full of fine powder ; others two or three-lobed, of two 

 or three valves, lodging from one to fix globofe bodies. 



This beautiful and ample genus, one of the mod elegant, 

 ivith refpeft to habit, in the whole vegetable kingdom, holds 

 as it were an intermediate place between the ferns and 

 mofles. Some botanifts have therefore been mod inclined 

 to refer it to the one tribe, others to the other. Its habit, 

 moft like the mofles, does yet by no means flriftly accord 

 with that order ; and their fruftification, being now well 

 underllood, feparates them diftinftly from LycopoSum, 

 whofe nature in that refpeft is almoft totally in the dark, 

 agreeing fo far with ferns. The feeds of the latter, how- 

 ever produced, agree as nearly as can be with the powder 

 found in the comprefled or kidney-lhaped capfules of the 

 genus in queftion, which powder moreover has been like- 

 v/ife proved, by experiment, to be real feed. But the glo- 

 bular bodies found in peculiar capfules upon L . dent'iculatum 

 and other fpecies, proved themfelves feeds by germinating, 

 according to Brotero, Tr. of L. Soc. v. 5. 162, yet fuch 

 fpecies are furnifhed befides with what feems to be the 

 genuine fruit of the genus. In this difficulty Profeflbr 

 Swartz and Mr, Brown have prudently contented them- 

 felves, in the generic character, with mentioning thefe two 

 kinds of apparent capfules and feeds, without pofitively 

 afferting either to be fuch. 



Jofeph Fox, a poor journeyman weaver of Norwich, is 

 the firil perion upon record who ever raifed plants of Lyco- 

 pod'tum Selago from the duft of the kidney-fhaped capfules ; 

 fee Tr. of Linn. Soc. v. 2. 314, whers Mr. Lindfay's ac- 

 count of having fucceeded equally well with the duft of Z. 

 lemuum in Jamaica, is alfo to be found. Sprengei cites the 

 authority of ProfefTor Willdenow in confirmation of this. 

 We cannot but admit therefore that this duft, fo exaftly 

 refembling the known feed of ferns, is real feed. This is 

 the Pulv'ts Lycopodii, formerly kept in the apothecaries 

 fhops, on account of fome reputed qualities long fince dif- 

 believed. It is ftill ufed in'^ermany to produce the appear- 

 ance of lightning upon the ftage ; for being very light and 

 highly infrdmmable, it takes fire inftantaneoufly, with a fort 

 cf hifGng explofion, while floating in the air. The duft of 

 L. clavatum is coUefted and fold on the continent, for this 

 purpofe. With refpeft to the globular bodies, whofe bulk 

 is beyond all meafure greater than that of thefe minute 

 feeds, it is impofiiblc to doubt the affertion of ProfefTor 

 Brotero, who in the fifth volume of the Tranfa£lions of the 

 L. Soc. deferibes their germination, radicle, cotyledons, 

 &c. ; fo that we rauft allow the exiftence of two kinds of 

 feed on the fame plant. The fame phenomenon ha; been 

 fufpetted in the genera Fuciis and Conferva, though bota- 



nifts have been fo juftly cautious of admitting it, that they 

 have not dared lo trull their own eyes. Perhaps the aftual 

 exiftence of the fact in Lycopodium, may fanftion our belief 

 of it in thefe other inllances. The difference however be- 

 tween thefe two kinds of feeds in Lycopodium is far more 

 efTentTHl than Profeffor Sprengei feems to infinuate, when he 

 fays it " only proves that the capfules of fcveral fpecies of 

 this genus are of two different fliapes." (Crypt. 195, 

 Englifh tranflation.) Nothing can be greater than the ap- 

 parent difference betwixt the two kinds of feeds themfelves, 

 which is fuch as to overfct all analogy hitherto known. 

 An idea advanced in Engl. Bot. v. 16. p. IJ48, that the 

 kidney-ftiaped capfules may be abortive ones, can hardly be 

 admitted ; for although we hear of no experiment made with 

 the contents of the two different kinds of capfules from the 

 fame individual plant, (which if plants could be raifed from 

 both, would be truly an expenmentum crucls ;) yet the kid- 

 ney-fliaped capfules of the fpecies in queftion, L. Selag't- 

 tioidis, are too precifely like thofe from which vegetating 

 feeds have been obtained, to allow of a doubt concerning 

 them. We ought not to omit that Dillenius firft obferved 

 thefe different kinds of feeds in Lycopodium, and has founded 

 upon them the different genera into which he has divided it, 

 as quoted among the fynonyms above. 



The 14th edition of Sy/]. Veg. contains 29 fpecies oi Ly- 

 copodium, fix of which are Britifti. Profeffor Swartz define* 

 65 ; exclufivc of the Linnsan nudum, which he eftablifhes 

 as a diftinil genus, by the name of Pfdotum ; as well as of 

 feveral others, which he finds mentioned in books, but could 

 not fatisfaftorily afcertain. — Fifteen fpecies have axillary 

 feffile capfules, all uniform, of two valves, containing the 

 above-defcribed powdery kind of feeds. The remaining 50 

 bear their capfules in terminal fpikes, each capfule being ac- 

 companied by a peculiai' fcale or bradea, generally toothed 

 or fringed, totally unhke the leaves, and moftly of a paler 

 or more tawny colour. Of thefe Jo, 26 have the fame kind 

 of capfules and feeds as the above 15, and no other; one, 

 (/>. Selaginoidcs, Engl. Bot. t. 1148.) has, befides fuch cap- 

 fules, very remarkable four-lobed ones, of two three-lobed 

 valves, and containing four globofe white feeds. The re- 

 mainder have kidney-fhaped as well as roundifh, rarely three- 

 lobed, capfules, either intermixed in the fame fpike, or the 

 former are in the upper part, the latter in the lower. By 

 this llatement it appears, that no known fpecies is without 

 the kidney-fhaped compreffed capfule, bearing the minute 

 duft-like feed, analogous to that of ferns ; the larger glo- 

 bofe feed being, as it feems, more of an adventitious nature. 



Examples of the axillary fpecies are, 



L. Unifolium. Linn. Sp. PI. 1563. Sw. n. i. (Selago 

 linarias foliis ; Dill. Mufc. 440. t. 57. f. 5.) — Leaves alter- 

 nate, remote, lanceolate. — Native of South America and 

 the Weft Indies. Taken up by Dillenius from Plumier, 

 who in his Filices, t. 166. f. C, C, gives an original plate of 

 this fpecies, which no other botanift appears to have fecn. 

 The root is fibrous. Stems feemingly pendulous, above two 

 feet long, flendcr, flightly branched, leafy throughout. 

 Leaves fcattercd, half an inch at leail diftant from each 

 other, often near two inches long, entire, taper-pointed, 

 fomewhat ovate and twifted at the bafe. Capfules axillary, 

 folitary, kidney-fliaped. No other known fpecies can vie 

 with this in the fize and dillance of its leaves. 



L. gnidiuides. Linn. Suppl. 448. Sw. n. 4. — Leaves 

 three in a whorl, imbricated, ovato-lanceolate, obtufe, entire. 

 Branches elongated. — Gathered in the illand of Mauritius 

 by Sonnerat or Commerfon, and given by Thouin to the 

 younger Linnxus. No other botanift feems to have fecn 

 the plant. It appears to be very tall, with the habit of the 



former. 



