HISTOEY OF BEITISH FEENS.
formed by an altered leaf, which, becoming somewhat
swollen on the outside, protrudes from its inner margin five
smaller lanceolate leaves or teeth, the whole being elevated
on a short hardened footstalk. Mr. Newman describes
these changed leaves as becoming transformed into irregular
six-cleft calyces or cups, the outermost lobe of the six being
longer and larger than the rest, and of the pair on each side,
one being generally incumbent on the other so as to nearly
conceal it. Within this is a whorl of five parts representing
a gemma, or bud; the three inner lobes of this series are
large and prominent, and of an ovate oblong acute form,
the two outer lobes are very small, scale-like, one closely
appressed to the anterior, the other to the posterior surface
of the bud. In the centre of the three inner lobes, in due
time, appears a thickish oblong body, which is in reality the
undeveloped stem, and eventually elongates, puts out small
leaflets, and becomes a plant.
These buds are capable of growth either while attached to
their parent stem or when detached and in contact with the
so il; and they appear to be the chief means of propagation
possessed by this species, for the statements which have
been made respecting the germination of the sporules of the
Eir Club-moss are open to much donht. Probably it was
these buds which were caused to germinate. The buds
themselves ofi’er much analogy to the larger spores or oophoridia
produced by some other species, and afford an additional
argument in support of the view which regards these
oophoridia as gemmæ, or buds.
There is no doubt this plant possesses some medicinal
properties, though it is not now used in regular practice.
It is powerfully irritant, and is used by country people, in
the form of an ointment, as a counter-irritant in parts near
the eye, as a remedy for diseases of that organ ; it appears
to be also sometimes employed as an emetic and cathartic,
but not without danger. A decoction is, on the authority
of Linnæus, used in Sweden to destroy vermin on cattle.
It is also employed for dyeing purposes, and to fix the colour
of woollen cloths.
The Lycopodiums are not frequently seen in cultivation, but
they nevertheless, equally with the Eerns, would become a
source of much interest if brought constantly under the eye
in a hving state ; and in an equal degree the study of them
in this condition—the watching of their progress and deve