250 



NATURE STUDY 



Few plants can resist so successfully the effects of heat 

 and cold, drouth and moisture, and by reason of this they 

 are universally distributed. There is no spot so barren 

 and desolate that some kind of moss or lichen may not 

 be found near by. 



Like the ferns, they have no flower, but reproduce by 

 means of spores instead of seeds. These spores are con- 



Moss Plant, lid and cap removed, showing spores within. 



tained in capsules borne, in all of our common mosses, 

 on rather long stalks, and additionally protected by a 

 curious sheath, which resembles the cap of a Kormandy 

 peasant or, sometimes, a candle extinguisher. 



Peat, burned by the Irish peasant, is almost entirely 

 composed of moss. One species is used by the Lapland- 

 ers to line their cradles, and another by the Esquimaux 

 for lampwicks ; but their greatest use to man is the 



