314 The Fern Tribe. 



found in woods, and called Adder' s-tongue, (Ophioglossum\ 

 because of its narrow inflorescence, is another example. 



Such is the first and highest degree in the scale of organiza- 

 tion among flowerless plants. Possessing a system of vessels 

 frequently attaining a considerable size, having leaves inter- 

 sected by veins, and having their surface provided with breath- 

 ing pores ; Ferns may be considered to differ from Flowering 

 plants in little except in the manner in which they are propa- 

 gated, and in the organs assigned them by nature for that 

 purpose. 



GROWTH OF THE MISSEL TOE. 



As the Misseltoe has been incidentally alluded to in a pre- 

 vious article, the reader may not be unwilling to know some 

 curious facts which have been ascertained in regard to the 

 growth of that singular plant. They are extracted from a late 

 English work, of good authority. 



There are some plants which have not the power of forming 

 true roots for themselves, and which obtain their supply of sap 

 from the stems of trees to which they attach themselves. Such 

 is the common Misseltoe. The seeds of this plant are deposited 

 by birds on the exterior of the stems and branches of trees; and 

 the root-fibres which they put out, insinuate themselves through 

 the crevices of the bark, and become incorporated with the 

 wood. Now the Misseltoe imbibes the ascending sap from the 

 wood of the tree or stock on which it grows ; and this it con- 

 verts into a proper juice, adapted to nourish its own structure, 

 by means of its own leaves. The ascending sap of most trees 

 being nearly alike, the Misseltoe seems to grow with almost 

 equal facility on a great variety. It is remarkable, however, 

 that it is very rare on the Oak ; and it is perhaps this circum- 

 stance, which caused the plant, when found in connexion with 

 that tree, to be regarded by the ancient Druids in a religious 

 light. 



It is a very curious fact, that the law of growth of the root- 

 fibres of the Misseltoe, is different from that which governs 



