270 



CLASS CRYPTOGAMIA. 



and pistils are intermixed with numerous succulent threads. 



You may here observe (Fig. 128) the different parts of mosses ; 



Fig. 128. 



a, represents the capsule ; 6, the pedicel or stem ; e, the sheath, 

 which, before the pedicel grew up, served as a kind of calyx, 

 to protect the embryo fruit ; d, the operculum or lid, which, 

 before the capsule is ripe, is covered by the calyptra ; e, the 

 calyptra, or veil ; f, the fringe or teeth, which, when the cap- 

 sule is ripe, and has thrown off its other parts, often appear 

 around its edge^ g, the barren or staminate flower of a moss. 



The mosses are generally perennial and evergreen, and 

 capable of growing in colder climates than most other vegeta- 

 bles. In Spitzbergen, the rocks which rise from the surround- 

 ing ice, are thickly clothed with moss. A botanist who tra- 

 yelled in Greenland, counted more than twenty different spe- 

 cies without rising from a rock where he was seated. 



The parts of the mosses which have been described are not 

 seen without the assistance of a good microscope. It is not to 

 be expected that young botanists will be fond of this depart- 

 ment of the science, although those who become acquainted 

 with it, discover much enthusiasm in its pursuit. The follow- 

 ing interesting remarks on Cryptogamous plants are taken 

 from an English writer. 



Mosses and Ferns, by the inconsiderate mind, are deemed 

 an useless or insignificant part of the creation. That they are 

 not, is evident from this, that He who made them has formed 

 nothing in vain, but on the contrary has pronounced all his cre- 

 ation to be good. Many of their uses- we know ; that they 

 have many more which we know not, is unquestionable, since 

 there is probably no one thing in the universe, of which we 

 can dare to assert, that we know all its uses. Thus much we 

 are certain of, with respect to mosses, that as they flourish 



Explain Fig. 128 Mosses capable of enduring cold Microscope necessary 

 in examining moss es Remarks of an English writer. 



