148 MOSSES AND LIVERWORTS 



tiny capsule again expands, and its delicate fringe 

 of teeth opens or closes as it would have done 

 under the influence of a passing shower, when the 

 plant was growing on the shady bank or stone - 

 built wall where it had originally made its home. 

 Thus it is that there is no season, year in, year 

 out, and no hour of the day, when the moss-lover 

 cannot find plenty of interesting work to do. In 

 his rambles in the country, whether in the depths 

 of winter, when Nature seems to be asleep, or in 

 the early days of spring, when everything around 

 him speaks of renewed life and of the sunny 

 summer days at hand, right on through the 

 beautiful autumn-time, when the woods are 

 ablaze with marvellous tints of red and yellow, 

 he will always meet with something of interest or 

 delight; while the spoils of his holiday tramps 

 may be examined and mounted on wet days or 

 by the home fireside in the long winter evenings, 

 and will bring back to him many a happy re- 

 collection of walks through the lanes and woods, 

 or scrambles up the rugged mountain side, or 

 along the banks of some rippling stream. It will 

 not therefore be out of place if I conclude with a 

 few hints as to the collection and examination of 

 specimens, and the mounting of them as micro- 

 scopical slides hints drawn from the stock of 

 practical knowledge gathered from many a leisure 

 hour spent in the study of these charming little 

 plants. And though I shall, for convenience, refer 



