12 MOSSES WITH A HAND-LENS 



The whole mass, being saturated with water, decays slowly, 

 leaving a black substance whose combustibility depends upon the 

 purity of the carbon. The " muck " of the farmers is an in- 

 complete or impure peat. 



Peat Mosses grow into small ponds from the margin and 

 frequently fill them entirely, forming quaking bogs. In other 

 instances there is a small black pool in the center of the bog 

 all that remains of a much larger body of water that once 

 occupied the whole area now occupied by the bog. 



These bogs are very treacherous, and men and animals not 

 infrequently perish through being engulfed in the black slimy 

 mud. There is some antiseptic property in this mud which pre- 

 serves animal and vegetable tissue for a long time. Huge logs 

 are often dug out of these swamps in a condition fit for excel- 

 lent lumber. In Ireland, the body of a woman dressed in hair- 

 cloth was unearthed from under eleven feet of peat, where it 

 must have lain for centuries. 



Peat Mosses absorb water very freely and serve to hold back 

 the water that falls during heavy storms, preventing floods and 

 retaining the water until it is more needed. Because of this 

 absorbent power these mosses are much used by florists for 

 packing flowers and by stable-men for bedding. 



Peat Mosses are dried and baled like hay and sent to the 

 cities in great quantity for use in stables instead of straw. The 

 moss absorbs liquids and gases so freely that stables using it 

 are almost free from odor. 



These mosses are easily recognized by their light gray-green 

 color (sometimes pink or red at the top) and their peculiar 

 shape, which is well illustrated in the figures. 



Professor Goebel, in his Organography of Plants, gives an 

 interesting account of the method of spore dispersal in Sphag- 

 num. According to him, the ripening capsule absorbs air, and 

 when fully ripe the sun's rays dry out the moisture, causing the 

 capsule to shrink in all directions, but a great deal more trans- 

 versely than longitudinally. This gradually compresses the air 

 until the lid of the capsule is forced off with an explosion that 

 has thrown the spores as far as four inches. 



Although Professor Goebel did not mention it, it seems to 

 me that this explosion is very probably " touched off " by passing 

 animals or even by sudden breezes, so that the spores will find 

 a ready means of dispersal. Certain it is that the spores will 



