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which has sixteen teeth. Of the FORK Moss (DicranumJ 

 there are two species, common on the ground. One, (D. 

 JieteromallumJ is very minute, but grows in large patches. 

 The other, (D. scoparium,) grows in damp places, some inches 

 high, with long, thin, bent capsules seated upon long stalks ; 

 and leaves more than a quarter of an inch long there are 

 sixteen teeth round the capsule joined together in pairs. Tufts 

 of the SCREW Moss, (Tortula,) abound on every wall. The 

 capsule is upright, very thin, and with its thirty-two teeth 

 twisted together like a screw. Polytrichum commune is one 

 of the commonest, as well as one of the largest species on waste 

 grounds its hood is very hairy its capsule thick, with a row 

 of thirty-two or sixty-four teeth, and a membrane besides 

 within these. One or two more of the Polytrichums are not 

 rare particularly the waved-leaved one, a small one, and 

 another whose leaves have a hair at the end of each. The 

 CORD Moss, (Funaria hydrometrica,) is often to be found in 

 gravel pits, and such places, in the Summer time. This bears 

 a curved capsule, on a crooked stalk, an inch long. This stalk 

 has a very curious property ; when the plant is dry and the 

 stalk is wetted near the top, the capsules turn round one way, 

 and when it is wetted near the bottom they turn round the 

 other way. The THREAD Moss, (Bryum,) is a very numerous 

 and beautiful family. The most common and one of the 

 smallest is the SILVER BRYUM, which has white, silver-like 

 leaves, and drooping capsules, with two rows of teeth, sixteen 

 in each to be found on banks and walls in April. All the 

 Thread Mosses have the stalks of their capsules growing out 

 of the very top of the plants. 



The WATER Moss, (Fontinalis,) is abundant under water 

 in rivers and ponds it grows two or three feet long, and 

 seldom is found in fruit. And last, the very beautiful family of 

 the FEATHER MOSSES, (Hypnum,) some of which are found 

 everywhere. Their stems are mostly branched, covered with 

 leaves, and with long-stalked capsules growing out of the sides 

 of the stems ; one very common species is used to pack things 

 in, to make baskets, and so on ; it is the THREE-CORNERED 

 HYPNUM (H. triquetrum.} Another of them is used by an- 

 glers to keep worms in, and by gardeners to bind round the 



