PROPERTIES OF CRYPTOGAMIC PLANTS. 11 



Tkibe II. MUSCOIDE^ {Moss-Like Plants.) 



Order I. MUSCI, LINK {Mosses.) 



Among all of tlie plants of tlie Class Cyptogamia, no Order, 

 perhaps, presents, says Sir "Wm. Jackson Hooker, a more varied and 

 exquisitely beautiful structure than the mosses, whether we con- 

 sider their foliage, their capsules, or the delicate single or double 

 fringe which surrounds the mouth of the latter. Tliey exist most 

 abundantly in temperate and cold climates, attaining perfection 

 during the winter months. They invest rocks and trees, espe- 

 cially in a northern exposure, to a considerable extent, " afford- 

 ing," says Linnseus, "a harbor to an immense number of insects, 

 protecting them lest they should be destroyed by the frosts of 

 winter, or be parched by the heats of summer, or withered by the 

 vicissitudes of spring, or decayed by the damps of autumn." 



Tlie following references respecting this order we obtain from 

 Herat & DeLens' Diet. de. M. Med. iv. 499 ; G. G. Kichter, Diss, 

 de Muscorum notis et salubritate, 1Y4:T ; Pultney, Mem. sur les 

 Mousses (Phil. Trans. 1758) ; Linnseus, De Usu Muse. 1Y66, in 

 Amcen. (Acad. 145) ; Yogler, Diss, de Muscis, 1Y74. 



Dlcranum h'yoides, Sw. 



Fissidens " Hedw. 



Jlypnuni " Linn. 



Tlie moss which engaged Mungo Park's attention so much in 

 Africa as to revive his drooping sj)irit8 when sinking under 

 fatigue, is this species, as I have ascertained by means of original 

 specimens given to me by his brother-in-law, Mr. Dickson. — 

 C. Eng. p. 36. 



Fumaria hygrometrica, Hedw. (Ilygrometric Cord Moss; 

 grows on old walls and woods). It undergoes such changes in 

 wet and dry weather as to make an excellent hygrometer. 



Polytricldum Commune^ L. (Common Hair Moss. Heaths 

 and woods in sandy soils.) It is inodorous, and slightly astrin- 

 gent, and is said to be deobstruant, diuretic, lithontriptic, sudor- 

 ific, and emmenagogue. J. P. Bonnafoux speaks very favorably 

 of it with respect to the property last mentioned ; and he relates 



