36 R. BRAITHWAITE ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF MOSSES. 



elation of mosses with ferns, for both delight in moisture and 

 shade. Here is a great tuft of Hypnum loreum from the surface 

 of a rock at Ambleside, and growing from its centre is the beau- 

 tiful fern Polypodium Phegopteris ; the moss, no doubt, was the 

 first occupant, and as it stretched out its tiny arms and thousand 

 little leaves, these detained the dust grains borne onward by the 

 winds, and entangling the autumn leaves, soon converted them 

 into rich mould ; anon the fern spore, too, is arrested in its course, 

 vegetates and permeates the tuft with its rhizomes, binding the 

 whole firmly together, and to its rocky bed. 



Since mosses require but a point on which to fix themselves, and 

 moisture to continue their existence, no class of plants enjoys such 

 a wide-spread distribution, for from the eternal snows of the highest 

 mountains to the ocean fringe of the shore, they are everywhere 

 prevalent ; clasping in their slender, yet tenacious arms the 

 crumbling stone, or hiding, as with a mantle of youth, the pros- 

 trate monarch of the forest in his final stage of dissolution, and 

 supplying the last wreath placed by nature on the tomb of man. 



How extensive, then, is the field occupied by these plants in the 

 economy of creation ! How eminently are they calculated to de- 

 light the eye, both by their exquisite structure and the part they 

 play in the scenery of the world around us ! Even here, though 

 dead, they may point our moral and adorn our tale, and they will 

 live for ever on painter's canvass and in poet's verse. 



Testimonial to Dr. R. Braithwaite.— On Thursday evening-, February 

 10th, a deputation from the gentlemen who had attended Dr. Braithwaite's 

 Lectures on Mosses assembled at his residence for the purpose of presenting 

 him with a token of their esteem and regard. The Testimonial consisted of a 

 Silver-mounted Claret Jug, and Prof, de Notaris' great work "Epilogo della 

 Briologia Italiana." The former bore Dr. Braithwaite's crest, and the latter 

 the inscription, " Presented with a Claret Jug to R. Braithwaite, M.D., F.L.S., 

 in token of the pleasure and instruction derived from a Course of Lectures on 

 Mosses." This was signed by all the subscribers. Mr. Bell, F.C.S., in making 

 the presentation eulogized the care bestowed in the preparation of the Lectures, 

 the clearness of their delivery, and also the hearty friendliness with which the 

 subscribers had been received by Dr. and Mrs. Braithwaite. 



Dr. Braithwaite expressed his gratification at the kindly feeling displayed 

 towards him by the subscribers, and at the reception of so unexpected a recogni- 

 tion of his humble efforts to spread a knowledge of his favourite study. 



