SPHAGNUM MOSS NICHOLS. 233 



of surgical qualities of moss ; most of the bog surface is too dry. The 

 best surgical material, and by far the largest quantities (this is par- 

 ticularly true of Sphagnum, papillosum) is to be found in the wet, 

 flat, quaking bogs which border lakes and ponds, and which usually 

 abound in the regions of raised bogs. 



PROSPECTING FOR SURGICAL SPHAGNUM. 



In surveying any district for surgical sphagnum, there are a few 

 practical points which it is well to bear in mind. A wooded bog 

 may contain plenty of sphagnum, but for our purpose it is rarely of 

 any value. The good moss almost invariably grows in open bogs. 

 Again, an open bog all overgrown with bushes, where the sphag- 

 num forms great soft cushions a foot or so high, is apt to afford 

 pretty poor picking. There may be plenty of moss, but most of 

 it will prove to be of the wrong variety; or if it is of the right 

 variety it will be of poor quality. For that matter, it should be 

 said that in almost any bog there is sure to be a large proportion of 

 undesirable material; commonly the bulk of the sphagnum will 

 consist of species that are of no use at all for surgical purposes. 



The best qualities of moss always grow in the wetter parts of a 

 bog. A dry bog is apt to contain no material whatever of surgical 

 value; a wet one may be full of it. The best kind of a bog for 

 surgical moss is a wet cranberry bog: not a bog of the artificial 

 variety that is so common in southern New Jersey, but one where 

 the cranberries grow scattered over a soft carpet of moss, inter- 

 mixed with more or less "cranberry grass" {Carex filiformis and 

 C. oligosperma) , with perhaps a scanty growth of low bushes. In 

 exploring any bog for surgical sphagnum, always look for the 

 wet places : the soft, quaky spots around the edges of ponds, the mushy 

 depressions, and the wet furrows ; and steer clear of the bushy places. 



COLLECTION AND PREPARATION OF MATERIAL FOR USE. 1 



The moss is usually collected by hand, but in some cases forks can 

 be used to advantage. In collecting, emphasis is placed on gathering 

 clean material, as 1 free as possible from other plants and rubbish, 

 since sooner or later all extraneous matter must be removed by hand. 

 After being pulled up, the moss is squeezed to remove excess water 

 and then packed in a gunny-sack. On some of the Pacific Coast 

 "moss drives" as many as 2,000 sacks of moss were gathered in a 

 single day. If proper precautions are taken against mildewing, the 

 moss, as it comes from the bog, can be stored without injury for 



1 See detailed instructions in papers by Professor Torter (Porter, J. B., Instructions for 

 the collection and preparation of sphagnum moss for surgical purposes. Circular issued 

 by Canadian Red Cross Society, pp. 1-7. 1917) and Professor Hotson (1918 and 1919, 

 oi). cit.). 



