292 Bower. — Notes on the Morphology of 
comparisons in the anatomy of the Ophioglossaceae, and the analogy 
between the vascular condition of the Ophioglossaceous stock and that of 
Thamnopteris , for instance, 1 is, to say the least, very suggestive. 
In the next place, the work of Bertrand and Cornaille 2 has shown that 
the origin of the vascular supply to the pinnae in certain relatively primitive 
Ferns was intramarginal on the abaxial side. This line of inquiry has been 
followed up by Chrysler, 3 and applying it to the Ophioglossaceae, he has 
demonstrated that in Botrychimn virginianum the intramarginal origin holds 
not only for the sterile pinnae, but also for the fertile spike. He concludes 
from this and other facts that the normal spike is the result of fusion of two 
basal pinnae. In fact, he upholds the old theory of Roeper, and maintains 
that the Ophioglossaceae are related to the Ferns, and especially to the 
Osmundaceae and Marattiaceae, springing from a primitive stock at a re- 
mote period. But in arriving at this conclusion, Dr. Chrysler does not, in 
his own observations, travel over ground outside that of the anatomy of the 
leaf, combined with a comparison of external form of certain abnormalities 
in B. obliqnum. This is a rather hazardous course in such questions. 
While due weight must be accorded to his anatomical results, his conclusions 
must stand the test of reference to other sources of information before they 
can be considered as amounting to more than interesting suggestions. 4 
It must be admitted that since 1896 the trend of the evidence has been 
decidedly such as to strengthen the Filical alliance of the family. This 
follows in the first place from the comparison of the gametophyte, when due 
allowance is made for the similarity of underground habit which they share 
with the Lycopods having led to a probable parallel development. It comes 
out also in some degree (which recent work on the Osmundaceae and 
Botryopterideae has distinctly strengthened) in the anatomy of the stock. 
Lastly, the observations of Dr. Chrysler have contributed in marked degree 
to strengthen the comparison with Ferns on the basis of the anatomy of the 
leaf. All this indicates that a reconsideration is necessary of the Lycopod- 
Sphenophyll-alliance previously recognized for the Ophioglossaceae. But 
before coming to a definite conclusion there are three other points to be 
taken into our view, two of them favourable, the other adverse to the Fern 
alliance. In the first place the comparison has been made in previous dis- 
cussions with the Sphenophyllales (including Psilotaceae) in respect of the 
behaviour of the sporogenous cells. It was pointed out that in the Psilota- 
ceae a proportion of the spore-mother-cells became abortive before the tetrad 
1 Fossil Osmundaceae, Part iii, PI. T. 
2 Travaux et Memoires de PUniversite de Lille, x, Mem. 29. 3 Ann. of Bot., 1910. 
4 The recognition of affinity of the Ophioglossales with certain early Filicales is no new con- 
ception. It was indicated in unmistakable terms by Renault in 1875 (Ann. Sci. Nat., S^r. 6, tom. i, 
pp. 232-4), while Prantl, in 1884, pointed specifically to the Botryopterideae and the Osmundaceae as 
possible lines of relationship with the living Ophioglossaceae (Beitr. z. Syst. d. Ophioglosseen, 
p. 345). See also Scott, Studies in Fossil Botany, ii, p. 640. 
