1858.] BRYOLOGY OF SOUTHPORT. 639 



Marrat, who is a most acute observer, and whose quickness and 

 powers of discrimination, in detecting generic and specific differ- 

 ences, are of the highest order. We commenced our excursion 

 in the direction of the " North Shore/^ our first object being to 

 search for Bryum formoswn, the last new discovery of Mr. Marrat, 

 and which, in the words of its discoverer, "is so unlike every 

 other known British species." On arriving at the spot where it 

 had been previously gathered, we instituted a most diligent and 

 careful search, but notwithstanding our most unwearied efforts, 

 we failed to detect any traces of its presence ; it would seem as 

 though the long drought of the summer had prevented its mak- 

 ing its appearance. Our next object was Bryum Marrattii, and 

 under the guidance of Mr. Marrat, who first detected it, we 

 directed our steps to the locality where, in former years, it grew 

 and flourished most abundantly ; but again we were doomed to 

 bitter disappointment, for it eluded our most diligent research, 

 and not a vestige of the plant could we find. Indeed the locality 

 where it once grew was so completely changed, that hardly was 

 it possible for any Moss to grow ; the whole surface of the ground 

 was covered most densely with a sward of impenetrable vegeta- 

 tion, presenting no possible opportunity for plants of this order 

 to exist. They had evidently been driven from their abode by 

 the encroachments of other species of a higher grade, and so far 

 as this habitat is concerned, B. Marrattii may be considered to 

 be now extinct. We then rambled for some time in various di- 

 rections, hoping to meet with it in other places, but in vain. 

 Wearied and fatigued we were compelled to return without see- 

 ing or collecting anything of interest. On the following morn- 

 ing, after an early breakfast, we renewed our ramble, with the 

 accompaniments of a brisk and exhilarating breeze, and the warm 

 and genial rays of a brilliant sun, nothing daunted by our disap- 

 pointment of the previous day. On this occasion we proceeded 

 in a southerly direction for about a mile, towards the large and 

 extensive flats and hollows which form beautiful valleys between 

 the sandhills, and we soon fell in with an abundance of Bryum 

 calophyllum and B. warneum, nestling in small patches, on bare 

 places on the ground, amongst the dwarf Salix fusca. The two 

 plants were frequently found growing together in the same patch, 

 but are readily distinguished at sight by the peculiar forms of 

 their capsules and opercula, as also by the very different character 



