GENERAL CHARACTERS OP BRITISH LICHENS, 75 



gones stand in the same relation to the apothecia that the 

 organs which contain the fecundating bodies in higher 

 plants bear to those which generate the seeds or their ana- 

 logues. It must be distinctly understood by the student 

 that no distinct proof has as yet been attained as to the 

 fecundating influence of the spermatia or stylospores on the 

 spores, and that therefore the part which these bodies play 

 in the function of reproduction is still a matter only of pro- 

 bability. 



The Pycnides {itvkvottis, denseness or closeness, Pyc- 

 nitis, Lat.) and their contents, from, their rarity, require 

 only a few words of explanation. They have been dis- 

 covered and described by Tulasne, in the Memoir formerly 

 alluded to. Their chief interest lies in their being a link in 

 the chain which connects the Lichens with the Fungi, as 

 they exist to a greater extent in the latter group of plants. 

 They differ from the spermogones in being larger, having 

 thicker walls, and in developing from the extremities of sim- 

 ple, tubular, tapering filaments or pedicles, bodies which, in 

 their size and general appearance, more resemble spores than 

 spermatia. These bodies are called Stylospores (<ttv\os, a 

 pillar), from being generated from the end of pedicles or 

 stalk-like filaments ; they are usually somewhat oblong, 



