i84 



HINTS AND NOTES 



types of plants. Thus it is similar in cliaractcr 

 to coal, but much youngiT, and thcrctoru phy- 

 sically different. 



Peat is formed in stagnant water, and is 

 charged with humous acids, which tend to 

 preserve the constituent plants. There is very 

 little foreign matter (3 per cent) in it. 



Generally spealcing there is upland peat and 

 lowland peat, or hill jjeat and bog or marsh 

 peat. The plants that respectively make up 

 each layer, form distinctive types of peat, and 

 from sections it is possible to determine the 

 origin of the different peat beds, and to denote 

 the changes in the llora. 



Thus in the Lake District one may fmd the 

 following succession, above lacustrine ooze and 

 shell marl, viz.: amorphous peat; Hypnum 

 peat, made up of moss stems; lower sedge and 

 reed peat, with drifted tree stumps occasionall}'; 

 upper sedge and reed peat; wood peat, with 

 Birch; a mixed brown peat, with Cotton 

 Grass, Sedges, and bog moss {Sphagmim)\ 

 and finiiUy an upper grey spongy Sphairiium 

 peat. 



Peat beds vary from a few feet to as much 

 as 30 ft. or more. In Ireland peat is cut into 

 turves and used for fuel, paper-making, &c. 



Ancient Peat Deposits. — As a whole peat 

 deposits are not older than the Glacial epoch, 

 and a great proportion of them belong to the 

 Recent or present period coeval with the for- 

 m.ition of the alluvium of our modern rivers. 

 But the upland peat formed upon the high- 

 lands of England and Scotland, as sliown by 

 F. J. Lewis, may be said to be older, or of 

 Glacial age. Thus in Kirkcudbrightshire and 

 Ayrshire the succession is as follows: Recent 

 peat, chiefly with Scirpus and Sphaa-iuiin, an 

 L'pper Turbarian or Si.\th Glacial stage, an 

 Upper F"orestian bed with Pinus sylvcstn's, 

 then Sphai^iiiiw, then Krioplwrum^ Lower Tur- 

 barian or Fifth Glacial stage, .Arctic Willow 

 and Emfit'tnim, then Eriophorum , followed bv 

 Sphiignum, a Lower Forestian bed with White 

 Birch, and below Willow and Ling, the Mcck- 

 ]cnhi(i-i;i(i)i or Fourth Glacial stage with coarse 

 sand and morainic material. 



Thus forest beds alternate with peat beds. 

 This is similar to the sequence of Pine, Oak, 

 and Spruce in Sweden. The plants of the 

 peat beds are arctic plants, and have travelled 

 southward with the ice. 



Lowland and Upland Moors. — Moors as a 

 whole, being based upon a peat soil, are de- 

 veloped in regions that are humid, and it is 

 natural that they occur most frequently in the 

 uplands. But there are lowland moors also, 

 which usually occur in association with estu- 

 aries or lakes, where they are formed above 

 silt or alluvium or lacustrine mud. When 



there is mucli Tmie the Hrst stage has been 

 a bog. 



The estuarine lowland moors are formed 

 upon e.xtensive beds of silt, as in North Lanca- 

 shire, rmd are called Mosses, and occupied 

 old tilled-up upland valleys. Cotton Grasses, 

 Tufted Bulrush, Ling, Cross-leaved Heath, 

 Rosemary, Bog Mosses, Beak Sedge, Cran- 

 berry, Bog .Asphodel, and Sundews are char- 

 acteristic of these estuarine moors. In the 

 lacustrine moors there are in the peat succes- 

 sive layers with Bog Mosses, Cotton Grasses, 

 Prickly Twig Rush, Reed, Birch, Ling, &c. 

 The \alley moors of the New Forest show Hog 

 Moss, Purple Moor Gniss, Reed .Swamp asso- 

 ciations, and .Alder thickets. 



The upland moors lie on the slope of the 

 hills, e.g. Pennines, between 1000 and 2000 ft., 

 and in Scotland are found up to 3000 ft. They 

 are distinctly drier, and trees are absent as in 

 the original condition. The following as.socia- 

 tions occur: Bog Moss, Cotton Grass (1200- 

 2200 ft.). Tufted Bulrush (1250-2000 ft.). Bil- 

 berry Moor (up to 3000 ft. in Scotland), Heather 

 Moor (700 ft. or 1000 ft. to 2200 ft.). Klsewherc 

 Rush societies and others of stagnant hollows 

 occur. Grass Moor takes the place of these 

 associations in some parts of Scotland. 



Lowland and Upland Bogs. — .As there are 

 lowland and upland moors, so there are low- 

 land and upland bogs or tracts of fen. But 

 the greater portion of the fen formation, which 

 is made up of fen and carr (or wooded len), 

 is lowland, being developed chiefly in East 

 .Anglia. There the fen is ver\- little above 

 sea-level along the coast, and in fact may be 

 continuous with salt marshes at the margin. 



The plants that are most distinctive of the 

 fen are Grasses and Sedges, such as Reed, 

 Prickly Twig Rush, and Juncus ohtusijlonis; 

 Purple Moor Grass also occurs on a wide 

 scale, and Sphagnum and Cotton Grass, 

 whilst other plants are Sweet Gale, Bog 

 Orchis, Sundew, Winter Green, and else- 

 where Glycerin aqitatUn, Reed Grass, Rough 

 Meadow Grass, Ragged Robin, &c. 



Fen associations pass into moorland, and 

 where the peat rises above alkaline waters, 

 moor with acid water may occur. The upland 

 fen tracts are probably akin to lowland moors, 

 and consist of Cotton Grass, .Sedges, Rushes, 

 &c. , with Ragged Robin, CEnanthc Laclunalii, 

 Orchis incaniata, Scirpus rufus, &c. These 

 have been so far little investigated, and .1 

 field lies open for their special study. 



Xerophytic Types. — The submerged parts of 

 bog and marsh plants are expo.sed to the s.ime 

 conditions as aquatic plants, but the water in 

 which they grow is deficient in some salts, 

 especially nitrates, though rich in lime. Their 



