BRITISH MOSSES. 67 



Mosses an inference which seems not very strong. But 

 recently the remains of a Moss have been found in the 

 carboniferous strata at Commentry, in France. It appears 

 to be closely allied to the extant Polytrichum, the most 

 highly-developed genus of Mosses ; so that we have here 

 a phenomenon like that which occurs in reference to the 

 Equisetacae and Lycopodiacese, viz., that the earliest fossil 

 species known belong to very highly-developed forms of 

 the group. 



Distribution in Space. If we turn, now, from the dis- 

 tribution of this family in time to its distribution in 

 space, we shall observe some curious phenomena. Of our 

 English Mosses some are of almost world- wide distribution ; 

 some are found here and in spots far removed from our 

 shores ; some are believed to be peculiar to our island. 

 One observation should be borne in mind in considering 

 the following statement, viz., that Mosses are often small 

 and inconspicuous plants ; that they are often neglected 

 where flowering plants have been collected and studied ; and 

 that consequently the statements as to their non-existence 

 must always be accepted with this proviso, that they may 

 mean the non-existence or the non- discovery, or non- 

 observation of the plant in question. 



Of our Mosses I have said that some are cosmopolitan 

 in their extension. Our common Funaria kygrometrica, 

 our Bartramia pomiformis, and, amongst the Hepaticae, our 

 Marchantia are a few amongst many that are denizens 

 alike of the Old and of the New World. Of the New Zealand 

 Mosses about one-fifth are British, or at least European, 

 species ; of the Tasmanian Mosses about one-third. 



