APOSPORy IN FERNS. 
155 
number of curious excrescences, consisting of pear-shaped, 
bulbilloid growths, attached firmly to the frond by their 
thicker extremities, and seated in every case within indusia, 
thus occupying the place of sporangia, to which, however, 
they bore no resemblance whatever. Mr. G. B. Wollaston, 
whose attention was drawn to them by the previous discovery 
of bulbils proper upon other Athyria in the same year, which 
bulbils* also occupied the place of sori, was of opinion that 
they were also bulbils. However, on comparing them with 
the bulbils produced on these other Athyria, I was struck 
by the fact that, while in the other cases the bulbils were 
seated in the centre of scales arranged shuttlecock fashion 
around them, in this case indusia were present instead, which 
led me to look upon them as sporoid growths of a character 
essentially di:fierent from the bulbils common to many Ferns. 
I consequently laid down a number of pinnae, with the result 
that 1 read before you in June, viz., the production of perfect 
prothalli by the bifurcation of the points of the pear-shaped 
pseudo-bulbils, which prothalli eventually developed archegonia 
and antheridia, and finally yielded plants of the same type 
as the parent. 
At the meeting in June I could do no more than lay the 
consecutive record of my observations before you, since all 
traces of the preliminary stages had vanished when the young 
plants appeared, and these were then too diminutive for their 
character to be determined; they also afforded no evidence 
whatever that they had originated in other than the usual 
way, viz., from spores, and I consequently did not exhibit them. 
To-night, however, I have pleasure in exhibiting some of 
the plants produced as I have described. I had hoped, too, 
to be able to bring pinnae bearing pseudo-bulbils as described 
and sketched by me last year; but owing, partly, I believe, 
to the long, dry summer, and partly to the fact that the 
parent plant (which is not under my control) was placed out 
of doors for a time, I am only able to produce pinnae 
showing the fructification in a very immature state — not so 
immature, however, but that they afford ample evidence of 
abnormality. 
