356 ORTHOTRiCHUM ANOMALUM. [December, 



netrable as tliat of night, so that even now we are lost in con- 

 jecture and vain hypothesis, Avhen we attempt to unravel the con- 

 ceptions which Heclwig really entertained respecting this species, 

 and without reference to authentic specimens it would appear to 

 be a hopeless task to arrive at any positive and safe conclusions. 



That the confusion existing in regard to these two species was 

 at length discerned is rendered fully obvious and apparent by 

 the fact of the editors of the Supp. to Eng. Bot., in one of its 

 earlier numbers, considering it desirable to figure and describe 

 anew 0. anomalum as distinguished from 0. cupulatum. This 

 description, in part, I now subjoin, so that we may be the better 

 able to trace the progress of opinion respecting it. The descrip- 

 tion is as follows : — 



'^O. ANOMALUM, Eug. Bot. Supp., t. 3696. — Sp. Char. Stems 

 erect, leaves broadly lanceolate, slightly spreading, straight and 

 erect when dry. Capsule exserted, oblong, furrowed above. 

 Teeth erect, connected in eight pairs, without ciliary processes. 

 Calyptra slightly hairy. — Syn. O. anomalum. Turn. Muse. Hib. 

 94; Hook, and Tayl. Muse. Brit. 2nd edit. 126, t. 21. 



" This Moss grows on rocks and walls in limestone countries. 

 It is common in Anglesea and in Orme's Head. The earliest ac- 

 count of it as a species appears in the above-cited work of Dawson 

 Turner, Esq. It was formerly confounded with 0. cupulatum, 

 from which it is easily distinguished by its narrow and conspicu- 

 ously elevated capsules. A handsome species, growing in small 

 round dense tufts. Stems above half an inch long ; leaves of a 

 dark purplish-green, with colourless points, their nerve vanishing 

 above. Teeth of the peristome white, erect when dry, converging 

 when moist, never recurved. The obvious mark of this species 

 may be observed in the exserted cylindrical capsule, whose peri- 

 stome is destitute of cilia." 



The figure and description as here given represent with suffi- 

 cient accuracy and fidelity the O. anomalum of Hook, and Tayl., 

 and of all British authors since the time of Smith. There are, 

 however, one or two points that appear to me to be scarcely ex- 

 pressed with that clearness and precision that is desirable. The 

 figure shows six strise on one side of the capsule, so as to leave us 

 in doubt as to the exact number intended, whether eight or six- 

 teen, and the capsule is described as simply "furrowed above." 

 This omission is of great and essential importance, as upon the 



