50 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



bryologist. Nor is this all that a journey round the 

 garden will disclose : the neglected paths yield other 

 species not less worthy of examination, and old 

 apple-trees are not unfrequently tenanted by mosses. 



Extending our walks to tlie commons, lanes, and 

 woods, we may find on tlie ground and banks, in 

 bogs and on the stumps and trunks of trees, a num- 

 ber of species greatly extending our list, while 

 others again are only met with on tlie clay soil of 

 stubble-fields; a, various species of Fottici and 

 Ephemerum : appearing in October, their delicate 

 texture is developed by the constant moisture of 

 winter, and with it also they vanish, to appear no 

 more until the succeeding season. Travelling yet 

 farther away, we find that each locality we visit 

 yields some novelty : old walls and rocks of sand- 

 stone or slate, limestone districts, and above all, a 

 mountainous country, are rich in species we seek in 

 vain elsewhere. Here peatbogs, and rocks dripping 

 with water, ever supplied by the atmosphere, or the 

 tumbling streams everywhere met with, are the 

 chosen homes of these little plants, and thither 

 must the collector resort, if he would reap his 

 richest harvest. Winter and spring in the lowlands, 

 and a later period in the elevated districts, will be 

 found most productive of fruiting plants. 



Preparation, of Specimens. — So rapidly does the 

 cellular texture of the mosses transmit fluid, that, 

 when soaked in water, we see them swell up and 

 expand their little leaves, and in a short time t4iey 

 look as fresh as when growing ; hence a basin of 

 water, a towel, and drying-paper are all we require 

 to prepare oiir specimens for the herbarium. If the 

 tufts are lai'ge, we must separate them into patches 

 sufficiently thin to lie flat, and by repeated washing, 

 get rid of adherent earth, mud, or gravel. This is 

 conveniently accomplished by holding the tuft in the 

 palm of the hand, under a tap, and allowing a 

 stream of water to pass through it ; then by pressure 

 in the folded towel we remove superfluous moisture 

 and immediately transfer to paper, arranging the 

 plants as we wish them to lie permanently, and 

 placing with each a ticket bearing the name : a 

 moderate weight is sufiicient to dry them, as with 

 great pressure tlie capsules split, and thus the value 

 of the specimens is decreased. It not unfrequently 

 happens that two or three species grow intermixed : 

 these must be carefully separated at the time of 

 soaking, and any capsules required to show the 

 , peristome must also be removed before the plants 

 are submitted to pressure. 



Uxamiiiafion of Specimens. — We have very much 

 to learn about a moss before we can become mas- 

 ters of all the characters that pertain to it as a 

 specific individual. We must observe its branching, 

 the mode of attachment of the leaves to the stem, 

 and their direction ; the form and structure of a 

 separate leaf, the position of the male flowers, and 

 lastly the position and structure of the fruit. Eor 



the efficient determination of these we require a 

 microscope (the simple dissecting microscope is 

 amply sufficient), a couple of sharp-edged, triangu- 

 lar needles fixed in handles, and a few glass slides 

 and covers. Having soaked our specimen in water, 

 we lay it on a slide, and by cutting througli the 

 stem with one of the needles, close^to the attach- 

 ment of a leaf, we can rea'dily remove the leaf en- 

 tire, and two or three may be transfen-ed to another 

 slide, and placed in a drop of water uuder a cover : 

 the same thing may be roughly accomplished by 

 scraping the stem backwards with one of^the 

 needles ; but in this way the leaves are often torn. 





Fig. 33. — Tortula muralis. 

 1, Leaf and its areolation 2. Capsule. 3. Calyptra. 

 4. Lid. 5. Male flower. 6. Antheridia and pataphyses- 



By examination of a leaf we notice its form, the 

 condition of its margin, whether entire or serrated 

 or bordered ; the presence and extent of the nerve ; 

 and lastly, and most important of all, the form and 

 condition of its component cells ; and for this a 

 higher power is required. With a l-in. object-glass 

 and C eyepiece we can observe their form, and 

 whether their walls are thickened so as to render 

 them dot-like ; their contents, whether chloro- 

 phyllose or hyaline; and their surface, whether 

 smooth or covered with papillae ; for often these 

 points are so characteristic, that by them alone we 

 can at once refer a barren specimen to its proper 

 family or genus. 



Preservation of Specimens. — This may be dis- 

 cussed uuder two heads :— 1st, as microscopic 

 objects ; 2nd, for the herbarium. 



1. The parts required for microscopic examina- 

 tion are the capsules and peristome, entire speci- 

 mens of the smaller species, and detached leaves. 

 The capsules having to be viewed by condensed 

 light, must be mounted dry as opaque objects ; and 

 for this purpose I use Piper's wooden slides, with 

 revolving bone cover ; and in one of .these we may 

 fix a capsule with the lid still attached, another 

 laid on its side, but showing the peristome, and a 

 third with the mouth of the capsule looking upward, 

 a position very useful for the species of Orthotri- 

 chum, as we are thus enabled to see the inner 



