v. A TUFT OF MOSS. 



95 



the individual. It is in this form made more per- 

 manent, the individual dying but the tuft enduring; 

 and gathering all its powers into a common storehouse, 

 the moss community attracts to itself a far larger share 

 of the attention of the beneficent powers of nature than 

 could possibly be bestowed upon any one of the units 

 of which it is composed separately. The moss in its 

 tufted form affords to its individuals the same protection 

 and help which a dense forest affords to its trees. If 

 these trees stood in the open a brisk wind would 

 throw them down, or a hot sun dry them up ; but in the 

 shelter of this nursery of nature they are fostered, and 

 struggle up through the gloom branchless and leafless 

 till their whole pent-up life bursts out together, and 

 they are crowned at a great height with a dense canopy 

 of foliage, all their glory at the top ; and so with the 

 moss-forest. It is to this social habit of mosses that 

 we owe the picturesque beauty which they impart to 

 our old walls and secluded sanctuaries of nature. What 

 can be lovelier than the soft green cushions, composed 

 of myriads of individuals uniting all their charms to- 

 gether, which they spread over the bank of some wood- 

 land stream, stealing all noises from the intruding foot, 

 and inviting with the delicious play of light and shade 

 that flickers over them to noontide rest and dreamy 

 meditation : or the emerald bracelets which they clasp 

 round the knotted arms of the forest trees, imitating the 

 jewel in the brilliancy of its lustre and the endurance of 

 its verdure ! 



The key to this social habit of the moss is man, to 



