Germinating Spores in Stauropteris Oldhamia. i 71 
reference of this plant to Filicineae, or at least to weigh heavily in 
that scale. 
In examining the sections of Stauropteris sporangia, appearances 
indicating the probability of germination had been noticed for some 
time past. The first indication was the variation in the size of the 
spores in different sporangia, a fact which is observable in the 
illustrations to the Stauropteris paper, 1 though its importance was 
not recognized at the time. Subsequently it was found in several 
cases that the spores in certain sporangia were in a swollen and 
burst condition, suggestive of ill-preserved stages of germination. 
Decisive evidence, however, was only obtained when the sporangium 
shown in Fig. 27, came under observation. It occurs in a section 
of a nodule from Shore-Littleborough, Lancashire; the material, 
which, except for Stigmarian rootlets, is almost pure Stauropteris 
oldliaiuia, is the same which yielded the sporangia in connection with 
Fig. 28. Four germinating spores from the sporangium shewn in Fig. 
27. For description see text. From drawing by Mr. L. A. Boodle. x335. 
the rachis, described in my previous paper. The characters of the 
sporangium are precisely the same as those of the specimens in 
which the attachment is shown. Its length is 750//, and width 580//. 
The outer layer of the wall consists of the square or columnar cells 
usual in Stauropteris ; the inner layer is only partially preserved ; it 
appears to have been of considerable thickness, though this may be 
exaggerated by the contraction of the included mass of spores. 
The smallest spores, apparently ungerminated, measure as little as 
32// .in diameter; those which were already in course of germi¬ 
nation are swollen, their transverse diameter approaching 50//. A 
considerable number are in the germinating condition ; four of the 
1 Loc. cit., 1905; Fig. 2. Compare the spores in A and B with 
those in C. 
