No. 454-] OPHIOGLOSSACEA': AND MARSlIJACEJ-l 



77i 



whether or not the possibiHty of a direct connection between the 

 two is admitted, there is no question of the strong resemblance 

 between the sporangia of Ophioglossum and Dana;a. In view 

 of all these facts, we can see no \'alid reason for removing the 

 Ophioglossaceae from their association with the ferns, and we 

 believe that their association with the Marattiacea^ among the 

 eusporangiate ferns is entirely justified. 



The Marsiliace/E. 



That the Marsiliaceae are directly allied to some group of 

 homosporous leptosporangiate ferns is apparent ; but there has 

 been little attempt to connect them directly to any of the existing 

 ferns. The wTiter {loc. cit., p. 421) has suggested a comparison 



with the peculiar Ceratopteris, and has also compared the anthe- 

 ridium with that of the Polypodiaceae. 



The more recent work of Belajeff (" Die mannlichen Proth- 

 allien der Wasserfarne," Bot. kit., 1898) on the antheridium, 

 and of Johnson (" On the leaf and sporocarp of Marsilia," Ann. 

 Bot. XII, 1898) (" On the leaf and sporocarp of Pilularia," Bot. 

 Gaz. XXVI, 1898) and Goebel {Organogmphie der Planzen, 



