100 MOSSES AND LIVERWORTS 



on closer examination the " subsoil " proved to be 

 notbing more nor less tban an old boot, which 

 some thoughtless person had thrown into the 

 stream, where it would have remained an eyesore 

 to any nature-lover who might pass by, had 

 it not been for the bright green covering of tiny 

 leaves, spangled with orange capsules, which had 

 transformed it into an object of beauty : thus 

 exemplifying what has so truly been said, that 

 " mosses, like love, make even the ugliest objects 

 beautiful, for they hide all defects with their own 

 loveliness " (Helen Evelyn Day). 



