EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA. 



II 



these widely extended solitudes, supplies one of the first require- 

 ments of those who occupy them, and everywhere is peat annually 

 cut, dried, and stored. 



With regard to the function of these plants in the formation 

 of peat, I cannot do better than quote Professor Schimper's 

 words. He says : — " Unless there were peat-mosses, many a bare 

 r ountain rid^^e, many a high valley of the temperate zone, and 

 large tracts of the northern plains, would present an uniform 

 watery flat, instead of a covering of flowering plants or shady 

 woods. For just as the Sphagna suck up the atmospheric mois- 

 ture and convey it to the earth do they also contribute to it by 

 pumping up to the surface of the tufts formed by them, the 

 standing water which was their cradle, diminish it by promoting 

 evaporation, and finally also by their own detritus, and by that 

 of the numerous other bog-plants to which they serve as a support, 

 remov- it entirely, and thus bring about their own destruction. 

 Then, as soon as the plant-detritus formed in this manner has 

 elevated itself above the surface water, it is familiar to us by the 

 name of peat, becomes material for fuel, and all Sphagnum vegeta- 

 tion ceases " 



Their power of retaining moisture renders them useful to the 

 gardener in the cultivation of orchids, ferns, and other delicate 

 plants, and for their package and transport in a fres'.i state. 



But to the inquiring mind the study of the structure of these 

 plants must prove an unfailing source of instruction, for in no 

 members of the vegetable kingdom do we find means so well 

 adapted to the ends they serve, as in the beautiful and varied 

 tissues which build up a single stem of Sphagnum. 



