Mosses and Lichens 



mechanical contrivances for the physicist, curious processes of 

 interest to the chemist, and many suggestions for the philosopher. 

 Go into the woods and pastures after a rain. You will find 

 a beauty and loveliness on rocks and trees and fallen logs which 

 were not even suggested on a dry sunshiny day. The wood is 

 in her glory at such times, and everyone who once sees her in 

 her splendour will visit her again. 



" Here are cool mosses deep, 

 And thro' the moss the ivies creep." 



Tennyson The Lotos Eaters: Choric song. 



The habit the mosses and lichens have of changing form and 

 colour is one full of interest. The crisp gray moss cushions, 

 which quickly turn green in the rain, must excite curiosity 

 (Colour Plate IV). Pause awhile by a fresh green bank of Hairy- 

 caps (Colour Plate X) wet with dew, and as the sun comes 

 out and shines upon the little plants, watch them shrink away, 

 changing the fresh bank into one brown and bare. Watch them 

 again in a rain or when the evening dew is falling, to see every 

 apparently dead brown plant revive and become green as before. 

 The cause of the change is easily seen by one looking closely. 

 The plant does not die when the sun shines, it simply folds the 

 edges of its leaves together and turns them up against the stem 

 so that their horny tips, instead of their delicate leaf surfaces, are 

 presented to the sun. 



The cause of the upturning of the leaves of the Hairy-caps, 

 the change of colour of many mosses and lichens from gray to 

 green, the methods by which they subsist on bare and barren 

 rocks and soils, and endure extreme and sudden changes in the 

 dryness and humidity of the air, are all interesting questions to 

 be answered by the microscope, together with careful observa- 

 tions in the field. 



Gray or crimson Bog-mosses (see Colour Plate III), steadily 

 working their way over swamps and ponds, preparing a foothold 

 for larger plants, illustrate to us how the great peat-bogs of 

 Ireland and of other parts of world were made. 



Whether one study the mosses and lichens for their natural 

 beauty, for their habits, or from a botanical standpoint, they 

 are interesting. They are true lovers of fresh air and clear 

 running water, beautiful creatures in beautiful homes. They are 



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