Asexual Reproduction in Hepaticae. 
i6 5 
fragments or entire (Ceratodon purpureus , Hypuum cupressiforme , H. 
molluscum, Amblystegium serpens , Bryum caespiticium), or even 
whilst the sporogonium remains attached to the Moss-plant (Funaria 
hygrometrica)} Lang 2 has recently shown that apospory occurs in 
Anthoceros laevis. He found that on cutting up the sporogonia and 
laying them on damp sand, green outgrowths arose from the 
surfaces and cut ends of the fragments. These outgrowths fre¬ 
quently bore rhizoids and strongly resembled the young plants 
formed from germinating spores. Sections showed that these 
shoots were usually developed from the hypodermal layer s of the 
capsule, and that each arose from a single cell. 
The writer has made numerous cultures with a view to 
ascertaining whether this phenomenon occurs in other Hepaticae. 
Young capsules of Pcllia epipliylla, P. calycina, Fegatella conicci , and 
Lopliocolea bidentata , were dissected out and portions of the seta and 
of the capsule-wall (in the latter case the spore mother cells or the 
young spores were as far as possible removed by means of a camel- 
hair brush) were grown on damp sand. In no case, however, was 
any outgrowth observed ; the cells grew in size, and, in the case of 
the pieces of capsule-wall, remained green for some weeks, but 
ultimately became withered and discoloured. The writer hopes, 
however, to resume the search in the autumn, when young 
sporogonia are again available, for in view of Lang’s discovery of 
apospory in Anthoceros , there seems to be a strong probability that 
this phenomenon may be induced in other forms, especially as in 
most cases the cells forming the wall of the young capsule contain 
abundant chlorophyll^which is at a later stage lost, together with 
the other cell-contents, when the formation of ring-thickenings 
takes place. 
In conclusion, the writer desires to acknowledge his obligations 
to the following gentlemen, who have generously sent him material, 
in many cases consisting of living plants:—Mr. P. Furley, 
Aberystwyth ; Mr. W. Ingham, York; Mr. J. H. Mitchell, Bradford; 
Mr. W. H, Pearson, Manchester; Mr. M. B. Slater, Malton ; and 
Mr. G. Webster, York. 
1 Correns, C., Untersuchuugen (iber die Vermeliruiig der 
Laubmoose, 1899, p. 421, and papers by Stahl, Pringsheim 
and Brizi, there cited. 
2 Lang, W. H., On Apospory in Anthoceros laevis. Annals of 
Botany. Vol. 15, 1901, p. 503. 
