*
[footnote] *["In certain parts, probably, of all plants, are found peculiar
spiral filaments, having a striking resemblance to the spermatozoa of
animals. They have been long known in the organs called the antheridia of
mosses, Hepaticcae, and Characeae, and have more recently been discovered in
peculiar cells on the germinal frond of ferns, and on the very young leaves
of the buds of Phanerogamia. They are found in peculiar cells, and when
these are placed in water they are torn by the filament, which commences an
active spiral motion. The signification of these organs is at present quite
unknown; they appear, from the researches of N??geli, to resemble the cell
mucilage, or proto-plasma, in composition, and are developed from it.
Schleiden regards them as mere mucilaginous deposits, similar to those
connected with the circulation in cells, and he contends that the movement
of these bodies in water is analogous to the molecular motion of small
particles of organic and inorganic substances, and depends on mechanical
causes." -- 'Outlines of Structural and Physiological Botany', by A.
Henfrey, F.L.S., etc., 1846, p. 23.] -- Tr.
If to these
p 342
manifold currents and gyratory movements we add the phenomena of endosmosis,
nutrition, and growth, we shall have some idea of those forces which are
ever active amid the apparent repose of vegetable life.
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