Mr. R. Spruce on the Musci and Hepaticse of Teesdale. 193 



nourish many a moss unknown to Cromaglown, and yielding to 

 none in beauty and rarity. 



Amongst the mosses which most conspicuously ornament the 

 rocks in Teesdale may be mentioned the various species of the 

 genus Bartramia, all of which, with the exception of B. arcuata^ 

 were covered with their elegant pomiform capsules at the time of 

 my visit. By far the most striking of these is the new B. col- 

 carea, and it is besides of such frequent occurrence that the most 

 casual observer covild not fail to notice it. The Bi-ya, too, were 

 in the greatest variety and perfection, and in this genus alone I 

 gathered not fewer than a hundred forms. Among all the tribes 

 of mosses there is none more difficult than the Bryaceae, and per- 

 haps none has been more imperfectly studied by English bota- 

 nists ; at least, a perusal of the ' Bryologia Europsea ' of Bruch 

 and Schimper has shown me how little / was previously satis- 

 fied to know concerning it ; and it is to be hoped that the pub- 

 lication of this unrivalled work will give a new impulse to the 

 progress of bryology in this country, — a country which, as Bruch 

 and Schimper themselves confess, possesses " la plus belle vege- 

 tation cryptogamique" of any in Europe. 



As I had not studied the Brya very extensively before the pre- 

 sent year, 1 had failed to remark any peculiar beauty in the gene- 

 rality of the species, and I read with a smile that portion of the 

 introduction to the genus Bryum in the ' Bryol. Europ.^ which 

 relates to their habits and geographical distribution, where their 

 charms are eulogized in the most glowing terms ; but what I 

 have seen in Teesdale compels me to admit, that in variety of 

 colour and elegance of appearance the Brya yield to no other 

 mosses. In their sixth Fasciculus the authors of the ' Bryol. Em\' 

 have the following remarks on the alpine Brya : " Mountains of 

 moderate height give birth to only a small number of species; 

 there we find in the clefts of rocks Br. pallescens and ccespititium, 

 on the earth Br. argenteum and atro-purpureum ; but arrived in 

 subalpine and alpine regions, a new and rich vegetation presents 

 itself to the bryologist. Here, where on heights beaten by the 

 winds, in ravines filled with snow, and at the moving foot of 

 eternal glaciers, plants of superior orders disappear or only exist 

 in a diminutive state, many species of Bryum render less dreary 

 those isolated solitudes, and charm from afar the eyes of the de- 

 jected traveller. And who does not recall with delight the fine 

 swelling tufts of Bryum turbinatum var. Schleicheriy whose ten- 

 der green borders the dissolving snows, or conceals fountains clear 

 as crystal ? or the deep-green velvet of Br. Ludwigii, which lines, 

 alternately with the sombre patches of Br. cucullatum, the wintry 

 ravines of the Alps ? Even before attaining the alpine region we 

 are agreeably surprised by the fine Br. alpinum, which begins to 



Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Vol. Jiii. O 



