>_ MOSSES. 



No : surely if mosses were al >le to give utterance to any- 

 thing, it would be to a song of praise and love, setting 

 forth Gods care over all, even the very least of His 

 works, and telling how He decks and brightens unavoid- 

 able decay by dressing the leafless tree with extraneous 

 verdure, and how He smoothes the stony path, softening 

 off the sharp edges by means of mossy cushions. 



Let us now examine these other Bristle mosses. This 

 with the erect branches, pear-shaped urn, and hairy veil, 

 is the Eock Bristle moss (Orthotrichum rupestre, j%. 7 in 

 cut) ; and this with the crowded crisp leaves and smaller 

 urn is the Curled-leaved Bristle moss (Orthotrichum 

 crispum, fig. 8 in cut). We must turn to the trees again 

 for the Tawny-fruited Bristle moss, characterised by 

 its dark foliage and narrow urn, and for the White-tipped 

 Bristle moss, distinguished from all other species by the 

 white points of its leaves (Orthotrichum diaphanum, Jig. 

 10 in cut). There is a Straw-coloured Bristle moss, and 

 a Close-tufted Bristle moss, and a Showy Bristle moss, 

 and a Biver Bristle moss growing on trees by mountain 

 streams ; all these have furrowed urns and hairy veils. 

 The Elegant Bristle moss has a smooth veil. Drummond's 

 Bristle moss is peculiar to birch trees, and has creeping 

 stems ; and the Frizzled Bristle moss grows near the sea, 

 and is always barren. 



The group next to the Bristle mosses is a very small 

 one, containing only one family and four species. The 

 Yoke mosses have upright urns, small veils, and scarcely 

 any beaks to the lids. They are distinguished from the 

 Bristle mosses by the smoothness of the veils. I found a 

 piece of the Green-tufted Yoke moss near Sheerwater, in 



