INTEODUCTION. 13 



have tried the experiment^ or to consult the graphic descrip- 

 tion of a night^s lodging in a shepherd's " shieling," given 

 by Mr. Gardiner, of Dundee, in his 'Forfarshire Flora/ 

 that they may know how to proceed if reduced to straits in 

 the midst of such scenes. Had it not been proved that the 

 name of Hypnum, signifying " sleep," was at first applied to 

 a lichen or other cryptogamic plant, we could have imagined 

 that the author of the name had bestowed it on the moss 

 after a comfortable nap on a bank of II. prcelongmn or 

 splendens some autumn afternoon. 



" He laid him down 

 Where purple heath, profusely strewn, 

 And throat-wort \\ith its azure bell, 

 ^^ And moss and thyme his cushiou swell." 



We have already spoken of the use of Mosses in pro- 

 tecting the roots of plants from the extremes of cold and 

 heat, and other atmospheric changes. Of this the horti- 

 culturist has availed himself in several important operations. 

 Thus the success of the process of inarching — a species of 

 grafting — is dependent mainly on the care taken to have a 

 supply of moss judiciously applied at the junction of the 

 scion and stock. Layering also, a mode of striking plants 

 from cutting, is sometimes aided by the application of moss 



