1899.] ESSAYS. 51 



plants to offer for the students or admirers of nature ; and the 

 mosses and lichens seem to fill a gap which would otherwise 

 be vacant. After the last blossom has gone, when mushrooms, 

 even, are no longer found, save, perhaps, a few blackened 

 brick-tops or Omphalia-carnpanula around the frosty stumps, 

 when the fall rains have been with us, and tiie nights are cool, 

 then the mosses and lichens are at their best ; they soak up the 

 abundant moisture, put on their greenest colors, and send up 

 their tiny fruiting capsules. Now is the time to collect for 

 winter study. On starting out for a tramp, supply yourself 

 with a number of small paper-bags. On finding a specimen 

 you wish to preserve, put it in its bag, witli something to indi- 

 cate the substratum on which it was found, pin to and put 

 in pocket or bag. On reaching home, add dates and place and 

 pack away without further care. In the winter, when you wish 

 to study your mosses, wet them out thoroughly and they will 

 be as fresh as if newly gathered. They keep indefinitely dry, 

 and stand considerable hard usage. 



In these late fall days, and again in the time of the spring 

 rains, and, indeed, all through the winter, during milder inter- 

 vals, whenever we hear the drip, drip on the roofs, we know 

 the mosses are waking up and we can look out to such renewal 

 and enjoy the rich colors they take on. The lichens, especially, 

 are dull, lifeless-looking things when dry ; but, with a good 

 soaking, become changed, as with magic, into richest colors. 

 No gaudy primaries, but rich secondaries and tertiaries — olive- 

 green, sage-green, apple-green, grays, mauve, ruby, bronze, 

 orange, with dots of bright colors. 



A friend was being shown over the new house of a wealthy ex- 

 governor. She particularly admired the coloring of the walls, 

 draperies and carpets. She was told that the designer was a 

 real artist and did really what so many claim to do, but in 

 reality do so seldom, copied his colors directly from nature. I 

 have been told that Worth and Doucet do the same, and have 

 read descriptions of their costumes named from natural scenes 

 or objects, as for instance, one was a lichen costume. Surely, 

 one could not copy any colors with greater security in produ- 



