32 GENERAL CHARACTERS OF MOSSES. 



ferings. I was indeed a stranger in a strange land, yet I was still 

 under the protecting eye of that Providence, who has condescended 

 to call himself the stranger's friend. At this moment, painful as 

 my reflections were, the extraordinary beauty of a small Moss 

 irresistibly caught my eye ; and though the whole plant was not 

 larger than the top of one of my fingers, I could not contemplate 

 the delicate conformation of its roots, leaves, and fruit, without 

 admiration. Can that Being (thought I) who planted, watered, 

 and brought to perfection, in this obscure part of the world, a 

 thing which appears of so small importance, look with unconcern 

 upon the situation and sufferings of creatures formed after his 

 own image ? Surely not. Reflections like these would not 

 allow me to despair. I started up ; and disregarding both 

 hunger and fatigue, travelled forwards, assured that relief was at 

 hand, and I was not disappointed." 



29. Mosses are found in all parts of the world, in which the 

 atmosphere is moist; but they are far more abundant in temper- 

 ate climates, than in any between the tropics. They are among 

 the first vegetables that clothe the soil with verdure, in newly- 

 formed countries; and they are the last that disappear, when 

 the atmosphere ceases to be capable of nourishing vegetation. 

 The first green crust upon the cinders, with which the surface of 

 Ascension Island was covered, consisted of minute Mosses. This 

 tribe forms more than a fourth of the whole vegetation of Mel- 

 ville Island, one of the most northerly spots in which any plants 

 have been observed; and the black and lifeless soil of New South 

 Shetland, one of the islands nearest to the South Pole, is covered 

 with specks of Mosses struggling for existence. 



30. Besides their power of resisting extremes of temperature, 

 Mosses exhibit a remarkable tenacity of life, when their growth 

 is checked by the absence of moisture ; so that they may often 

 be restored to active life, even when they have been dried for 

 many years. Hence they offer abundant sources of interest to 

 the observer of Nature, at a season when vegetation of other 

 kinds is almost entirely checked. For it is most curious to ob- 

 serve, how gay these little Mosses are on every wall-top, during 

 the winter months, and in the early spring, almost, or perhaps 



