272 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



in the shape of Hypnum myosuroides, H. rcsupinatum, 

 Isothecium myurum, as well as others which I had 

 previously gathered. On the ground, too, were 

 great clumps of that splendid moss Hypnum breviros- 

 tre, and smaller bunches of IP. striatum, H. lo>-eum, 

 (not common) and Thamnhim alopecurum. Close by 

 the rude stone bridge which crosses the stream below 



THE CARBONIFEROUS CORALS OF 

 SCOTLAND. 



A Story of Hard Work. 



^T OTWITHSTANDING the paLxontological 

 *l wealth of the carboniferous limestone in 

 England, Wales, and many parts of Ireland, it is 



Fig. 168. — Sections of Fossil Carboniferous Corals {Amplexus coralioides). 



Trevaylor House, upon the trunks of several small 

 trees I noticed Neckera pumila, and on the ground 

 at my feet Milium undulatum. Rain having by 

 this time set in steadily, I regarded it as an inti- 

 mation that a sufficient number of mosses had been 

 collected for one day, so I turned homewards. 

 Fortune favoured me, however, during this wet 

 walk to the extent of adding four more species 

 to my vasculum load ; viz., Trichostomuni littorale, 

 JPypnum rutabuluin, Bryum capillare, and Tortula 

 muralis. 



On emptying out my vasculum and pockets in the 

 evening I found I had collected in this day's walk 

 eighty-three species, all of which are enumerated 

 above. The specimens themselves I sent with 

 this paper to the editor, asking him to accept them 

 as a trifling souvenir of the Land's End. There 

 are no local rarities in this list, although some of 

 the species are confined to the west of England. 

 It may be as well to add in conclusion that the 

 farthest point I reached during the day is well 

 within an hour's walk of Penzance, and that the 

 entire distance traversed might be roughly estimated 

 at ten miles. A cryptogamic botanist, however, is 

 very erratic in his movements, and the hours glided 

 by so rapidly that possibly the journey may have 

 somewhat exceeded this ; but then being quite alone 

 1 did it very leisurely. 



Penzaiue. E. D. Marquand. 



Fig. 169. — Section of Fossil Coral, showing structure, 



doubtful whether Scotland does not surpass them. 

 And it is certain that for number and variety of fossil 

 corals, reef-building, and otherwise, no other part of 

 Great Britain can compare with it. Fortunately, 

 among the numerous diligent workers in Scottish 

 fossils, one man, Mr. James Thomson, F.G.S., of 

 Glasgow, has devoted the whole of an enthusiastic 



