53r. JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XIX. 



he could stand it uo longer, and got up and scattered the creatures, which 

 all plunged into a pool, and after what looked like a brief water-polo match 

 disappeared in some rocks. I watched this for about a quarter of hour, 

 and only discovered myself on the departure of the otters. The buffalo was 

 probably a stray one from one of the Kachin villages which dot the hills 

 here and there. 



D. H. M. BOYLE. 

 Mansi, IQth April 1909. 



No. XXIII.— BRACHYMENIUM TURGIDUM, Broth, n. sp. 



Among a small collection of mosses gathered by Mr. L. J. Sedgwick in 

 Southern India, and communicated to me by Mr. G. B, Savery, was a Brachy- 

 men'mm very striking in the form and position of the capsules. Being unable 

 to determine it, I sent it to Dr. Brotherus, who kindly examined it and replied 

 that it was allied to, but specifically different from, B. nepalense, Hook., and he 

 suggested for it the name B. hirgidwn. I append a description of it. 



BRACHYMENIUM TURGIDUM, Broth., in lit. 



Autoicum. Fl. masc. gemmiformes, in innovationibus apicules : unthendia 

 pauca, O, 4 mm. longa. Coespites densi, laete virides vel rupescentes, subnitidi, 

 1-2 cm, alti, inferne soepe tomentosi. Folia subasquales, ad apicem caulis 

 j-amorumque hand rosidata, humida et sicca mierecta, hand patenlia, moUia, sub- 

 flaccida, sicca contracta nusquam spinliter contorla, ad 3 mm. longa, ovato- 

 ianceolata vel late lingulato-lanceolata, mhintegra vel Integra, nervo fusco sat 

 uugusto (ad basin latiore) excedente integro cuspidata ; cellulis leptodermicis 

 elongato-hexagonis, pellucidis, 30-40^ longis, 10- 15^0. latis ; limbo p)eraiigustu, 

 e cellulis linearibus 2-3 — seriatis composito. Folia perichoetalia rubra, parva 

 triangularia, acuminata, inferne marginibus latiascule revolutis. Seta rufesoens, 

 1, 5 — 2 cm., longa, superne arcuata vel cygnea, theca ideo horizoniulis vel pendida. — 

 Theca (cum collo) ad 3 mm. longa, turgide oralis vel late pyrrformis, collo brevi- 

 usculo vix (nisi capsulis vetustis) defluente, microstoma ; operculo hemisphoerico, 

 obtuso, nitido. Annulus latus. Exothecii celluloe pachydermicEe, valde irre- 

 gulares. Bxostomii denies 25«<iW?", basin versus lutei, 0-35— 0-4 mm. alti ; lamina 

 dorsalis minute papillosa, linea media inferne distincte serpentina; lamellge, 

 lamina) ventralis aUissimcv., iO-bOt^ alti ; Endostium pallidum, inferne 

 luteolum, 0*25 mm. altum, ubique dense minute papillosum; processus sat longi, 

 ad 0*12 mm., alti, in crura bina divergentia obtusi fissi, ciliis nullis vel omnino 

 rudimentariis. Spori magni, 35-45/*, minutissme granulati, viiides. 



Habitat. — On timber of a small bridge, Lonavli, W. Ghats, South India ; 

 alt. 2,000 ft. ; Sep. 1907. L. J. Sedgwick. Also on branches of Cactus, 

 Lonavli. Type in my herbarium. 



A very distinct species, differing from most of the allied species of Brachy- 

 menium in the turgid, sub-pendulous capsule. From B. nepalense. Hook, it 

 differs also in the leaves narrowly timbate and subentire, not at all spirally 



