. The Bible and science. Fig. 22.—Hair moss. a. The stalk, or seta, bearing a spore case or A sporangium covered by its hood or calyptra. c. Head of antheridiabearing the male inflorescence. 80 ALTERNATION OF GENERATIONS. In ferns a flat cellular alga-like expansion, orprothallium, grows from the spore, and on it areproduced the antheridia and oogonia, from ^^hichthe spore-bearing plant is produced. In both mosses and ferns, then, we have an alterna-tion of generations, the spore germinating into a plant. Fig. 23.—Fern (Aspidium Filix-mas). which does not resemble the parent but
. The Bible and science. Fig. 22.—Hair moss. a. The stalk, or seta, bearing a spore case or A sporangium covered by its hood or calyptra. c. Head of antheridiabearing the male inflorescence. 80 ALTERNATION OF GENERATIONS. In ferns a flat cellular alga-like expansion, orprothallium, grows from the spore, and on it areproduced the antheridia and oogonia, from ^^hichthe spore-bearing plant is produced. In both mosses and ferns, then, we have an alterna-tion of generations, the spore germinating into a plant. Fig. 23.—Fern (Aspidium Filix-mas). which does not resemble the parent but resembles analga, a plant lower in the scale. Here it may be wellto say what we mean by the term lower and higheras regards plants. By lower we mean that the plants are not so much HIGHER AND LOWER PLANTS. 81 differentiated, every part being to a considerable extentlike every other and able to perform the same func-tions. In higher plants the various parts are differen-tiated. They become unlike one another, each partceases in great measure to perform the functions ofthe other parts, but confines itself to its own, and doesthat well. Thus in algae the plant consists of cells only, andthese cells are all nearly alike ; they are not differen-
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