RECREATIVE SCIENCE. 



109 



HERBAEIUM OF MOSSES. 



APPAEATTTS. 



In tlie midst of wintry desolation, liow tlie 

 eye is cliarmed by the vivid freshness of tlie 

 tufts of emerald moss that beautify the clefts 

 of the rocks, the decayed hollows of old stone- 

 walls, and the buttresses of gray ruins. The 

 study of mosses is attractive beyond the 

 unique beauty of the plants, for every inves- 

 tigation of their structure reveals a wonder- 

 ful system of vegetable mechanism, which 

 under the microscope assumes the most 

 varied and artistic forms, often as geometri- 

 cal as snow-crystals, and very frequently 

 being striking resemblances to familiar works 

 of art. A simple Coddington lens is suffi- 

 cient to determine most of the species, and 

 we are invited to search them out by the 

 romantic situations in which they are usually 

 found ; nay, they make dreary places roman- 

 tic for a time, and carpet the earth with ver- 

 dure when most other forms of vegetation 

 have yielded to the rigours of winter. But 

 the mosses are not exclusively winter plants ; 

 every month in the year presents us with 

 species in growth and fruit, and there is 

 always some such to be sought by the collec- 

 tor. They are, nevertheless, in their highest 

 perfection in the midst of frost and snow, 

 and at this season of the year the beginner 

 need not search far to discover an abun- 

 dance of the most interesting and beautiful 

 species. 



For collecting mosses, the following appa- 

 ratus wiU be required: — 1st. A water-proof 

 bag, of oilskin, gutta-percha, or some such 

 material, for aquatic species. 2nd. A small- 

 sized dinner-knife, which should be provided 

 with a leather sheath as used for scissors. 

 This, from its long, thin, and flexible blade, 

 is far preferable to a pocket-knife, to peal 

 mosses off trees, palings, walls, etc. 3rd. A 



Fig. 1.— The Hoe-blade. 



small hoe-shaped blade, fitted to a short tube, 

 like an elongated thim- 

 ble, with a bayonet- 

 joint. Any clever work- 

 man would suggest the 

 mode of constructing 

 this instrument, which 

 should be made to fit 

 a walking-stick or um- 

 brella, or it may have 

 a handle made on pur- 

 pose (Fig. 1). 4th. A 

 few unglazed holland 

 bags, say six, the largest 

 six inches long, and four wide, the smallest 

 three inches long and three inches wide. 

 These may be fastened with strings, but I 

 prefer two buttons, as 

 shown in the engraving 

 (Fig. 2). 



5th. The Drying 

 Press. — This is formed 

 of thin strips of wood, 

 so arranged as to allow 

 a free current of air to 

 circulate between the 

 layers of specimens and 

 the papers placed be- 

 tween them, to facili- 

 tate the escape of mois- 

 ture. The outside 

 frames should be made 

 with two stout cross- 



FiG. 2.— The Bags. 



bars ; the two outer strips one inch wide, the 

 inner strips half an inch wide ; the spaces 

 between one-quarter of an inch ; the inner 

 frames to be composed of two layers of 

 strips all half an inch wide, with quarter-inch 

 spaces; with three cross-bars between, to 

 which botli layers of strips are fastened by a 

 screw passing through the whole ; the end 



