26 FIRST STEPS IN GENERAL KNOWLEDGE. 



slender stalks rising from them, each stalk support- 

 ing one of these little urns." 



" yes, papa," said Mary ; " and I have looked 

 at them through Henry's little microscope, for 

 mamma told me they were pretty little cups with 

 lids to them. In some of them the lids had fallen 

 off, and I saw a number of teeth rising up round 

 the edge of the cup, like a beautiful fringe. And 

 mamma said, that if I counted those little teeth, I 

 should always find them to be four times four, 

 or four times eight, or four times some other 

 number." 



"Yes; constantly a multiple of four; and all 

 this regular and beautiful apparatus for the pro- 

 tection of the minute spores or seeds which lie with- 

 in. These beautiful seed-vessels, as well as the leafy- 

 appearance of the stems in mosses, will show you 

 that they are considerably raised above lichens." 



" And are they put to as many uses ?" asked 

 Henry. 



"They are not. As far as the immediate 

 health and convenience of man are concerned, 

 mosses seem to be of little consequence, except 

 for the beautiful green carpet they spread under 

 his feet, in places where little else will grow. 



