40 BURMA, ITS PEOPLE AXD PRODUCTIOXS. 



Ande.ea, Ehrenherg. 



This gonns is the only one among mosses which has what has already been 

 partially described as a Schistocarpous spo)-ti»//iHm, or spore-ease. It consists of 

 very few species, four of which are natives of Great Britain, the rest being found 

 in various parts of the world, but (with one or two remarkable exceptions for which 

 geology has to account) always in Alpine or sub-Alpine countries. They are lowly- 

 tufted plants, rarely exceeding two inches in length, with veiy minute leaves of 

 a dark reddish-brown colour, in the mass looking almost black. I believe they are 

 invariably found on granite or quartzose rocks. The sporangium, which is about 

 the size of a small pin's head, is tenuinal and sessile. It has a mitriform cahjptia, 

 which becomes ruptured iiTcgulaidy. The striking peculiarity of the genus, in 

 which it differs from every other, is that, when ripe, the spore-case bursts into 4 

 (or 6-8, Berkeley) distinct valves, which, however, cohere at the summit. In this 

 division of the spore-case into foui- valves, although these valves do not ultimately 

 exjiand, Andraa approaches Jimgermnnnia, of which we shall speak in due course. 



Andraa rupcstris {pe/ropJiiia, Ehr.), with two or three more species, is foimd 

 in the Himalayas, though, of course, only at a considerable elevation. I have not 

 found it on our Burmese moxmtains, where it may jjossibly grow, though I doubt 

 if they attain a sufficient height for it, their maximum being about 8000 feet. 

 The exceptional locality for Anilraa, above alluded to, is the plains of Germany, 

 where, on granite rocks, Mr. Berkeley says, A. Rothii is found, with other Alpine 

 mosses. 



I have gathered this species on the giimite rocks of Dartmoor in Devonshire. 

 The genus receives its name from Andrea, a Hanoverian doctor. 



Those who never visit the mountains of Burma are not very likely to have their 

 attention drawn to the mosses of the country. They will, proliably indeed, wonder 

 where they are. In the hot weather they are completely diied up, and even in 

 the rainy season, the number to be found in tlie plains is very small, and they are 



t ible is, sui'ely, that its terms be sharply autithetiral ; the second, that they shall ronTcy, through their 

 derivatives, the meaning which is meant to be conveyed by them, clearhj ; and. it possible, cover the 

 whole meaning. Some of the terms above given do not answer to these conditions. Those for the 

 primary division (supposing the division itself to be a good one, though it has the inconvenience of 

 leaving nearly the whole of the Order on one side) are excellent ; they are at once sharply oj)posed, 

 and express exactly what it is meant they should, neither more nor less: viz. "leaf-cells uniform" 

 and "loaf-cells not uniform." 



We come no^v to the tirst subdivision and the word Sr/iialocnypiy an excellent terra in itself, as 

 well expressing the distinctive character of ihe Group " Amh-trnrfa:- \^ but its next opposite, St'i/nciirpi, 

 labours under the tUfhculty, tirst, of not being clearly antithetical, and .secondly, of being used to cover 

 more than its meaning warrants. It means "fruit with a lid," and the recognized opposite to it, used 

 in other systems, is ^^ C/eis/ocnrpi^' "fruit closed," or '^fntit irithoiit a litiy But this term finds no 

 place here. The explanation given in the Preface is ; " The Cliistoearpous Order has been suppressed, 

 because its component groups are referable to families of higher development." Doubtless this is so 

 itniuraltt/, but being so. the term '^ Stegocfvpi''^ should surely have been changed or omitted. It has 

 no antithetical term, strictly speaking, and though its meaning is " with a lid," it is used to include 

 those mosses which are without one ! A simple change of term, such, fiir instance, as Hu/ocarpi, or 

 v/io/e-irmtvd, would fairly have covered both those with a lid and those without one, and would at the 

 same time have been sharply opposed to Srhistorarpi or .«p/iM'ruited. 



To come to the farther subdivisions Arihi-odonii and Nimiitod'Titi, the simple meaning of these 

 two tenns is "teeth-jointed" and "teeth like spun thread;" but they are explained to mean, the 

 first: " Peristome with teeth built up of a triple series of agglutinated colls; the two outer series 

 coloured, and often united in one; the inner, broader and thinner in texture, transparent, forming little 

 transverse bars." The second: " I'oristome composed of several layers of threads, free, or the inner 

 ones united into a woven membrane; or, adhering by the points of their tooth-like processes to the 

 edge of a drum-like membrane." 



Now all this is a great deal more than the tenns used can possibly signify ; besides, the points or 

 peculiarities described are far fnmi being easy or simple. 



Lastly, no ex])lanation is afforded of the ininciplos on which the very large groups of genera have 

 been foundod, further than this, that "they are founded upon a ditforeiicc iu the mode of growth, or 

 in the structure of the leaves." 



It will, I think, be admitted that, however nnlural this Order or arrangement may be, coming in 

 as an nrtijicinl system in aid of the natural, it does not commend itself for its facility to a bcgium'r. 

 Tliis is the reason why, if it wore pos>iblo, I would gladly have substituted some more simple system hero. 



