1891.J on British 3Iosses. 249 



black peat impervious to water, plays the same part in the next stage 

 that the clay or pan did in the earlier stage. Again, the drainage of 

 this second level gets stopped, and the forest bottom is loaded with 

 stagnant water, the home of the Sphagnum ; together, the water and 

 the SpLagnum kill the forest trees, which share the fate of their pre- 

 decessors. The same history is gone through again — the Sphagnum 

 filling up the morass and turning the water into dry land until it 

 supports the third forest, and so on to the end. 



N.B. — The discourse was illustrated by diagrams. 



[E. F.] 



