142 OF THE MOSSES AND THEIR ALLIES. 



for his self-denial. Of course there are cases in which he 

 has but little chance of seeing the spot a second time ; there 

 is no help for him then but to secure the prize while he 

 can. There are a few cases too in which the plants rarely, 

 if ever, develop their organs of fructification. Here again 

 he must ' take things as he finds them ; ' it would be of no 

 use to wait, and he must be satisfied with sterile examples. 



[The reproductive organs of Mosses consist of so-called 

 antheridia and pistillidia, or archegones. The former 

 are minute globular or oval bodies, supported on a short 

 pedicel, and, when ripe, discharging a granular matter, 

 which has been likened to pollen. They are usually 

 associated with a number of jointed cellular filaments 

 or paraphyses, the ' fila succulenta ' of He d wig. These 

 antheridia are considered to be the representatives of the 

 stamens, or male organs of the flowering plants. The 

 pistillidia, on the other hand, minute flask-shaped bodies, 

 swollen at the base, are looked upon, as their name implies, 

 as corresponding to the pistils, or female organs of the 

 Phanerogamia. By degrees they are developed into the 

 long stemmed capsule, or theca, so conspicuous in most 

 Mosses by their bright chestnut colour. 



Now it is requisite, if possible, that the student should 

 provide himself with examples of each of these organs, not 

 only because of the interest attached to them, but from the 

 increasing tendency of muscologists to base their systems of 

 classification on these minute structures. — Ed.] 



It frequently happens, however, that Mosses are dioe- 

 cious ; that is to say, the two kinds of reproductive organs 

 are situated on separate plants, the mature female of course 

 being the most conspicuous. This is exactly analogous to 

 what occurs among the true sexual plants ; but then their 

 parts, as a rule, are evident enough, whereas among the 

 Mosses and their allies the same parts, at any rate at first, 

 are strictly microscopic. All we can recommend to the 

 student is, to make diligent search. If the antheridia are 

 riot to be found in the ' pistillidiferous ' specimens, he should 



