31) 



CHAPTER IX. 



ON THE USES OF MOSSES. 



I F we confine ourselves to the economical uses of Mosses, we 

 may almost speak of them in the terms in which owls are 

 spoken of in Horrebow's celebrated Chapter in the History 

 .of Iceland. Sphagnum alone is sometimes ground up to eke 

 out a scanty supply of meal, but without a notion as to its 

 possessing any nutritive qualities. Indeed, scarcely any part 

 of the vegetable kingdom seems to supply so little nutriment 

 to the animal world, though the tufts of Mosses afford harbour 

 to myriads of insects, as they do a warm clothing to the 

 trunks of trees. Scarcely a single species can be mentioned 

 which has any real pretensions to afford a useful medicine ; 

 and their other economical uses consist in their supplying an 

 admirable substance for packing or stuffing, or in their capa- 

 bility of being converted into miserable brooms or cushions. 

 One species affords a substitute for lampwicks to the Esqui- 

 maux. The continued growth of some of the bog species has 

 a considerable share in the formation of peat, which, after the 

 lapse of ages, is available to man in the shape of fuel. 



In the economy of nature they are of immense importance, 

 as they often constitute the first vegetation which appears on 

 new soil, affording a nidus for the development of other 



