HARDWICKE'S SC lEN CE- GOS SIP. 



49 



COLLECTING AND PEESEEVING. 



No. ir.-MOSSES .«- 

 By R. Braithwaite, M.D., F.L.S. 



N making a col- 

 lection of the 

 vegetable pro. 

 ' ductions of a 

 country, we find 

 considerable dif- 

 ferences in the 

 structure of the 

 various groups of plants, 

 and in the tissues of vphich 

 they are composed ; and 

 hence special inanipulation 

 is requisite in dealing with 

 certain orders. Some are of 

 so succulent a nature, or 

 have a framework so easily 

 disintegrated, that they con- 

 tain within themselves the 

 elements of destruction, and 

 present the greatest difii- 

 cuity in satisfactory preser- 

 vation, while others are so slightly acted on by 

 external agents, that little trouble is required to 

 prepare specimens of permanent beauty. 



The Ferns and Lycopods, being generally appro- 

 priated by the collector of flowering plants, will be 

 treated on with the latter, and following these 

 come the Mosses, to which we will now direct 

 attention, taking the alliance in its broadest sense, 

 as including the three groups of Erondose Mosses, 

 Bog Mosses, and Liver Mosses, or Hepatic^, all of 

 which are readily collected and preserved, and yield 

 an endless fund of instructive entertainment to the 

 microscopist. But it may be asked. Where is the 

 game to be found ? Where are the pleasant hunt- 



* Mr. Hardwicke has arranged to supply a mounted speci- 

 men illustrative of the above paper, and of the List of British 

 Mosses now preparing, price Sixpence. 



No. 87. 



ing-grounds in which they most do congregate ? We 

 answer, everywhere may some species or other be 

 met with ; yet, though many are cosmopolitan, the 

 majority have their special habitats, and some their 

 special seasons, both being considerably influenced 

 by the presence of moisture. 



Collecting. — The bryologist has one advantage 

 over the phsenogamous botanist, for it is not impera- 

 tive that mosses should be laid out and pressed im- 

 mediately ; and hence less care is required in collect- 

 ing them, than is bestowed on flowering plants ; the 

 necessary apparatus is confined to a pocket-knife, to 

 remove specimens from stones or trees, a stock of 

 stout waste paper, and a vasculum, or, better still, a 

 strong bag, in which to carry the packets. When 

 collecting the plants, it is well to remove any super- 

 fluous earth or stones, or to squeeze out the water 

 from those found in bogs ; and then each is to be 

 wrapped separately in paper, and the locality 

 marked outside ; or the more minute species may, 

 for greater safety, be placed in chip boxes. On 

 reaching home, if we do not prepare the specimens 

 at once, we must not leave the parcels packed 

 together in their receptacle, or mould will soon 

 attack them and spoil the whole ; but we must 

 spread them out on the floor until quite dry, and 

 then reserve them to a convenient opportunity to 

 lay out ; as in the dry state they may be kept for 

 years unchanged. 



It often happens that our line of study is devel- 

 oped by some fortuitous circumstance. A neglected 

 flowerpot in a corner of the garden attracts atten- 

 tion by its verdant carpet of moss, or, peeping over 

 the wall, we see the crevices between the bricks 

 bristling with capsules of Tortula rimralis, the red- 

 twisted peristome freshly brought to view by the 

 falling away of the lid, and, taking a bit indoors to 

 submit to the microscope, we are so captivated there- 

 with that we then and there determine to become a 



