37 



CHAPTER Y. 



SEEDS OF MOSSES. 



" Seeds to our eye invisible will find 

 On the rude rock the bed that fits their kind : 

 There in the rugged soil they safely dwell. 

 Till showers and snows the subtle atoms swell. 

 And spread the enduring foliage." 



Let us again lift the lid of this neat little box^ and examine 

 the nature of the fine green powder we see imbedded in it. 

 This is the mass of seeds or spores, which under a high 

 power of the microscope are found to be beautiful objects. 

 As in the higher plants, we find that the minute species, 

 such as Vhascum, have larger seeds than those of greater 

 size. In most Mosses the spores are spherical or approach- 

 ing to it. The surface also of most is smooth, though there 



