LESSONS ON BOTANY. 



6. Mib. Mart. 



So. Idibus Martlis dato; pouted cm the liUi of 



I.ATION OF 1,1 VY, I. 1.:, IN READINGS IN LATl 



At tins ju thine women, (root the outrage on whom the 



War originated, with liuir <h h< v.'ll. I and garments ren- 

 of their BOS being overcome by such dreadful scenes, had the oourag* 

 t throw themselves amid tlio flying weapons, and making a ruth 

 across, to port the incensed armies, and assuage their fury ; Imploring 

 it thu ono side, their husbands on the other, "that a* 

 iii-luw and sons-in-law they would not contaminate each other 

 with mi] i. "is blood, nor tituiu their olUpriutf with parricide, the on* 

 I'lron, thu oth-T their childreu. If you are dissatisfied 



Swith tin; i'llimty Ivi . .11 you, if with our marriages, turn your reseut- 

 us ; wo ore tlio cuiiso of war, we of wound* and of blood- 

 iir husbands mid parents. It were better that we perish than 

 live widowed or fatherless without ono or other of you." The circum- 

 oo affects both tlio multitude nud tlio leaders. Silence and a 

 Men suspension eusue. Upon this the leaders come forward in 

 . and they not only conclude a peace, but 



form one state out of two. They associate the regal power, and 

 -.fer tho entire sovereignty to Rome. The city being thus doublet), 

 that Boino compliment might bo paid to the Sabinea, they were called 

 (juirites, from Cures. 



LESSONS IN BOTANY. XL. 



SECTION CXXI. MOSSES (continutd). 

 MBS. SOMERVILLE, in her " Physical Geography," has given 

 some curious facts regarding mosses and lichens on those Ant- 

 arctic lands which are scattered, according to Rome, at immense 

 distances from each other round the South Pole, while others 

 suj)j>oso that they are connected at points beyond the parallel of 

 latitude to which man has hitherto been able to penetrate, and 

 thus form a great southern continent. She says : " As tho 

 latitude increases, the vegetation decreases, till at last utter 

 destitution prevails, not a lichen clothes the rocks, nor a sea- 

 weed lives beneath the gelid waves. In tho Arctic regions, on 

 the contrary, no land has yet been discovered wholly destitute 

 of vegetable life. The difference seems to arise more from tho 

 want of warmth in summer, than from the greater degree of 

 cold in winter." She also states that " in Tierra del Fuego 

 there is a greater number of plants identical with those of 

 Great Britain, or representatives of them, than is to be found 

 in any other land in the southern hemisphere, and among them, 

 forty-eight of the same mosses." 



Lovely as is this tribe of plants, TVO cannot give a good report 

 of them as ministering directly to the life of any part of the 

 animal creation. They do not furnish nectar for the moth or 

 butterfly, nor honey for the bee ; nor does any grub or worm 

 find its sustenance from them ; and if they are eaten by cattle, 

 or by hares, and other small animals, it is rather by accident 

 than choice. They, however, tend much to the extension and 

 preservation of vegetable life, both by the soil which their decay 

 supplies, and by their power of absorbing moisture and retaining 

 it, which makes them a valuable shelter to the roots of trees 

 and plants. The power which they possess of imbibing, as it 

 were, new life from water after they have long been dry and 

 apparently dead, renders mosses very useful in the greenhouse. 

 Very beautiful baskets for holding flowers may be made of the 

 longer and more feathery kinds. We have made them often ; 

 and never do flowers, whether wild or garden, look more lovely 

 than when clustered within a verdant border of that most dedi- 

 cate and beautiful material, which by proper management may 

 be made to preserve its freshness and brilliancy for many 

 months. We will here give a receipt for their manufacture. 



A light frame of any shape you like should be made with 

 wire and covered with common pasteboard or calico, and the 

 moss, which should first be well picked over and cleansed from 

 any bits of dirt or dead leaves which may be hanging about it, 

 gathered into little tufts, and sewed with a coarse needle and 

 thread to the covering, so as to clothe it thickly with a close 

 and compact coating, taking care that the points of the mow 

 are all outwards. A Ion* handle made in the same manner 

 should be attached to the basket, and a tin or other vessel, filled 

 with either wet sand or water, placed within to hold the flowers. 

 By dipping the whole fabric into water once in three or four 

 days, its verdure and elasticity will be fully preserved, and a 

 block of wood about an inch thick, and stained black or green, 



if placed under tho basket, wfll prevent all risk of dun** to 

 the table from the uoUture. To ejske raeb baskets Card* 

 much pleasant social amassment for children, who will find a 

 oonrtantly rmiewlD^ pleMara in varyioe thHr appMraaM*. One 

 weak, snowdrop* and crocuses will elMtsr sssnsjg tfce mossy 

 edges; then will eon* troop* of M dMdofr dssfodila " MM! IMM! 

 catkins, which, mixed with ivy leaves, make almost the yrrttiirt 

 dressing that can be found for it. In another weak or two, 

 anemone*, hyacinth*, and jonquil* will enure admitts 

 the place of honour ; and Ion* before the basket to 

 roase, lilies, jasmine, and even carnations, wfll here 

 into beauty, and had their day in the favourite 



CLUB-KOMI*. 



The organisation of the Lycopodiaeea, or club-moss**, will be 

 found well worthy the attention of thow who delight to find 

 subjects for praise and adoration of the great Creator in the> 

 works which he ha* made. The order contains bat two 

 families, tho true club-mosses and the /soetoe, or oniD-worta. 



The club -mosses have a toogh, persistent stem, beset with 

 hard short leaves. There are no veins in their leaves, which 

 sore, however, furnished wit i Urge atomata, or apertures in tho 

 cuticle for the admission of air to the cellular tisane of the* 

 plant, and are for the most part narrow and taper -pointed. The 

 stems are frequently twelve or thirteen feet in length, and in 

 Borne species raise themselves into an erect position and become 

 woody ; thus approximating to the character of some C'on^srox 

 In tho coal strata are found some canons fossilised remains of 

 gigantic Lycopodiaeea, which are called Lfpidodndn, or scaly 

 trees, from the mode of the arrangement of their leaves. These 

 in outward appearance form a connection between the two group* 

 the club-mosses and the Coniferce. The fructification of this 

 group consists of a short spike, formed by a prolongation of the 

 branch, round which are clustered a number of two-valved 

 capsules. These are sometimes of two kinds ; one containing a 

 mass of fine powdery granules ; the other, including only three 

 or four roundish fleshy bodies, are very much larger in sise than 

 the grannies. Both these kinds of capsule lie among the hair- 

 pointed leaves of tho head, one in the bosom of each leaf, and 

 enclosed in pale yellow cases. Whether both these kinds, tho 

 powder and the spores, have alike the power of reproducing 

 their species, seems as yet not to be determined, and botanist* 

 differ as to which of them is to be considered as the seed. 

 Lindloy tells us the larger bodies are the reproducing organs ; 

 Decandolle thinks the one fertilises the other. It is certain 

 that tho powder is endued with a curious inflammable property, 

 and is used in making the Chaldee fire, and has also been em- 

 ployed in making artificial lightning at the theatres. 



Lycopodium cUtvatum (Fig. 286), the wolf s-claw or stag's 

 horn moss, is the only species that can be said to be common in 

 England, but that may be found on most elevated moors and 

 heaths. It was formerly found on Hampstead and Hounslow 

 Heaths, and in other London localities. In Wales, Scotland, and 

 the hike countries, and in other mountainous districts, it is 

 abundant, but in Ireland less frequent The roots of this 

 species are not deeply fixed into the earth, but they ran matting 

 themselves together just under the surface, serving thus to bind 

 the soil, and prevent it from crumbling away. The stem is 

 prostrate, f roquently branched ; the branches slightly raised at 

 first, and then becoming procumbent ; these branches thus run 

 sometimes for ten or twelve yards from a centre. The branches 

 are covered with narrow, flat, smooth leaves, the edges of which 

 are slightly toothed and hair-tipped. These leaves do not fall 

 off, but are evergreen and persistent. When about to form 

 fruL there are thrown out from various parts of the branches 

 spikes clothed with leaves, longer, narrower, and of a paler 

 green than those which beset the original stem ; these branches 

 are crowned with pale sulphur-coloured heads, something like 

 catkins, usually two on each stem in pairs, but in some oases 

 three will start from the same point. In these spikes are the 

 smaller kind of fruit which we have described. The capsules 

 which contain them are in this species kidney-shaped, perfectly 

 sessile, and situated at tho base of the bracts. Each is two- 

 valved, and full of the small spores or powder. 



Lycopodittmanno^num, the interrupted olub-moes (Fig J87), 

 is another very interesting species of this genus, of rare occur- 

 rence in the British Ides, but oomiron in Norway, Sweden, and 

 in North America. The roots of this species are tough, wiry, 



