BEITISH MOSSES. 33 



The exception to which I have referred exists in the 

 family of the Polytrichaceae, of which the genus Poly- 

 trichum is the foremost (Figs. 2 and 3). In that kind of 

 Moss the stem of the plant and the stalks that support the 

 capsules are of a firm, almost woody, structure, and give 

 to the whole plant a different character to that of most of 

 the Mosses. This peculiarity of the Polytrichum has, so 

 to speak, enabled it to play a greater part in the world 

 than most Mosses. Gilbert White tells us that the 

 foresters of his neighbourhood made " neat little besoms 

 from the stalks of the Polytrichum, common or -great 

 golden maiden hair, which they call silk wood, and find 

 plenty in the bogs. When this Moss is well combed and 

 dressed, and divested of its outer skin, it becomes of a 

 beautiful bright chestnut colour, and being soft and pliant 

 is very proper for the dusting of bed curtains, carpets, 

 hangings, &c." But long before the dwellers in Wolmer 

 Forest discovered this use for this Moss, it had been 

 known to the pre-historic dwellers in our island, and 

 had, it appears, been used by them to adorn themselves or 

 their wives (themselves most likely). Curious fringe -like 

 objects plaited of the stems of this Moss have been dis- 

 covered in a crannog, or island fort, at Lochlee, in Ayrshire, 

 attributed to that pre-historic period which has been called 

 the late Celtic period. Furthermore, it is perhaps due to 

 this fibrous character of the class that the earliest Moss 

 of which we have any record in the strata of the earth 

 appears to be one of the Polytrichaceae. 



The roots or rhizoids of the Mosses are distinguished by 

 the minuteness of their growing ends, by their pliancy, and 



