58 MOSSES AND LIVERWORTS 



Once more in certain mosses the fruit-stalk 

 is strongly twisted, as in Plate IV. fig. 9, which 

 gives the capsule and fruit-stalk of the Awl- 

 leaved Screw-moss (Tortula subulata), a frequent 

 inhabitant of sandy hanks, a small piece of the 

 fruit-stalk, more highly magnified, being also 

 depicted at fig. 10, where the twist in con- 

 sequence is still more manifest. Features such 

 as these further serve to show the importance, 

 in every branch of nature-study, of the smallest 

 detail, either in form or structure, and cannot 

 but increase the wonder that we must feel as 

 we recognise, at every step, the marvellous order 

 that everywhere reigns. 



Position of the Fruit. It will not be inappro- 

 priate, before describing more minutely the various 

 parts of the capsule, and the functions which they 

 perform, to say a few words as to the position 

 of the fruit on the plant, for this is a matter 

 of some importance in the classification of the 

 different genera, and is consequently a point 

 which always has to be taken into account when 

 searching for the name of any specimen under 

 examination. Mosses are commonly divided into 

 two large classes, according to this matter of the 

 whereabouts of the fruit, namely, (1) those in 

 which the fruit grows at the end of the stem, 

 or acrocarpous mosses, and (2) those in which 

 it springs from the side of the stem, or pleuro- 

 carpous mosses. Pig. 4 of Plate II. gives an 



