40 HISTORY OF BRITISH MOSSES. 



raise a new generation. The details of this interesting ex- 

 pcrimentj and of others made by the intelHgeut Drummond, 

 will be found in the ' Edinburgh Encyclopaedia/ vol. xv.. 

 Article "Musci/^ and in the thirteenth volume of the 

 ' Linngean Transactions/ p. 24. 



That these conferva-like shoots are of a different nature 

 from true cotyledons — as they were termed by Hedwig — 

 was proved by Drummond's experiment of removing a por- 

 tion of the green covering from a flower-pot, and finding 

 that if he did not go too deep in doing so, this covering was 

 renewed by new growths from the part of the plant under- 

 ground. The length of time in which the plant remains 

 in this conferva state varies much in different Mosses. In 

 Funaria, Gymnostotmim pyriforme, and some Brya, leaves 

 are produced in about three weeks from the time of sowing, 

 if moisture is duly supplied, while in some Polytrichums 

 they do not appear for two or four months. 



Drummond also informs us that " the duration of the 

 green part of the conferva-like filaments on tlie surface, after 

 the Mosses produce their true leaves, depends much on the 

 soil and situation in which they grow. In Phascwn ser- 

 ratum and PolytricJmm aloides, they are almost always pre- 

 sent ; and in some Mosses supposed to be annual I have 



