AND ITS SURROUNDINGS. 177 



irregular network of green, and extremely short moss. 

 In the "Magazine of Natural History" vols. ii. and iii., 

 there are notices of the discovery of a similar "shining 

 moss." In one of these papers, signed J. E. Bowman, 

 the Court, near Wrexham, June 3rd, 1830, he says, "I 

 have no hesitation in referring this beautiful moss to the 

 order of Algse, of which it will probably be found to belong 

 to the tribe of Confervoidece, but I must leave it to those 

 who are better acquainted with this obscure family to decide 

 whether it has yet obtained a name and place in the system 

 of modern cryptogamic botanists." 



In the Gardeners' Magazine of February 3rd, 1872, there 

 is an interesting paper, from which we extract a portion. 



"In 1843, the luminosity of plants was recorded in the 

 Proceedings of the British Association. [Dr. Allman had 

 expressed an opinion respecting a plant, that the phe- 

 nomenon was not due to phosphorescence, but was referable 

 to the state of the visual organs, that is, an optical delusion.] 

 This led Mr. Babington to mention that he had seen, in 

 the West of England, a peculiar bright appearance, produced 

 by the presence of the Schistostega pennata, a little moss 

 which inhabited caverns and dark places; but this, too, 

 was objected to by a member present, who stated that 

 Professor Lloyd had examined the Schistostega, and had 

 found that the peculiar luminous appearance of that moss 

 arose from the presence of small crystals in its structure, 

 which reflected the smallest portion of the rays of light. 



These remarks having been published in the Gardeners' 

 Chronicle,* Dr. Lankester, in a succeeding number, said, 

 'The light from the moss, mentioned by Mr. Babington, 

 has also been observed in Germany on another species 



* 1843, page 691. 



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