44 MOSSES AND LIVERWORTS 



early days of spring, the small round cushions 

 of this moss, on the tops of the walls, bristle all 

 over with tiny pale yellow stalks, among which 

 the rain-drops sparkle in the sunlight like so 

 many diamonds ; these bristling cushions will 

 provide numerous examples of what I have just 

 described, and an ordinary hand magnifying-glass 

 will suffice to show that nearly every little stalk 

 is terminated by one of these veils. At fig. 11 

 of the same plate we have a veil detached from 

 its fruit-stalk, the small point at the top being 

 the shrivelled-up end of the fruit-bearing organ, 

 of which it once formed the upper part. The 

 veil (calyptra) drawn at Plate IV.a, fig. 1, is a 

 still more notable instance of the same type. 

 Well may the members of this particular family 

 be known as the " Extinguisher-mosses." In 

 this instance, too, the young spore-vessel is 

 much more advanced, and closely resembles the 

 appearance that it ultimately assumes. 



The veil does not always take this extinguisher 

 form; for instance, at Plate III. fig. 12 we have 

 one that is wider, and is, moreover, covered with 

 numerous long hairs, which give it quite the 

 appearance of a fur cap ; this veil is taken from 

 the Aloe-leaved Hair-moss (Polytrichum aloides), 

 another frequent inhabitant of our heaths and 

 commons. Again, fig. 14 of the same plate shows 

 an entirely different kind of veil ; this is said to 

 be mitre-shaped (mitriform), because of a resem- 



