Page:History of botany (Sachs; Garnsey).djvu/224

 1850; what was certainly known about them only showed how uncertain the rest was; the Algae, Fungi, and Lichens presented a chaotic mass of obscure forms in contrast with the well-ordered knowledge of the Muscineae and Vascular plants. In the Mosses and Ferns the series of developments within the limits of the species was so set forth in its several stages, that all the important points in the advancing growth were clearly ascertained, while the alternation of generations at once sharply distinguished and connected together the chief sections in the development; on the other hand the development of the Algae and Fungi seemed to break up into a disorderly and motley throng of forms that appeared and disappeared, and it seemed scarcely possible to discover their regular genetic connection. Here the important point was to determine which of the known forms belonged to one and the same cycle of development, for these plants go back at the most various stages of development to the segregation of single cells, which are the beginning of a new development either repeating or carrying on the old one. The beginnings of the most different species of Algae lay mixed up together in the same drop of water, those of quite different Fungi grew together and even upon one another on the same substratum; in the Lichens, Fungus and Alga were united together. Such was the case with the small and microscopic species; the large Seaweeds, the Mushrooms, and the large Lichens were easier to distinguish specifically, but less if possible was known of their development than of that of the microscopic Thallophytes.

Nevertheless the knowledge of individual forms in these organisms had been considerably extended before 1850. Collectors and amateurs, intent only on determining what is immediately presented to the eye and making little enquiry into origin and affinities, were indefatigable in adding to their collections, and made catalogues and proposed various systems founded on external marks taken at pleasure. The names of species were counted by thousands, their characters filled thick