moss. 353 



Mouche. The English name Moss, we con- 

 clude, is a corruption of the French word 

 Mousse, as we find that it was formerly 

 spelt Mosse. 



Mosses seem to require little othei nutri- 

 ment than a moist atmosphere, and are so 

 tenacious of life, that they will revive and 

 vegetate on receiving moisture, although in 

 appearance quite dead through being dried 

 by heat. They generally seek situations that 

 are shaded from the sun ; and although mi- 

 nute, they are extremely beautiful, and many 

 of them of so hardy a nature, that they both 

 blossom and seed during the winter months, 

 when the sap of most other plants is retired 

 or congealed, in which state their vegetation 

 rests, awaiting the reviving and powerful 

 influence of the sun, again to draw it bub- 

 bling forth, and as it forces through the pores 

 of branch and bud, it forms its leaves and 

 flowers, which human art cannot imitate, or 

 the mind of man contemplate without ac- 

 knowledging it to be the work of Him, 



" Who only does great wonders. " 



Mosses, although diminutive, grow rapidly: 

 for nothing in nature is allowed to remain 

 stationary, idle, or useless; nor is there any 



VOL. I. 2 A 



