Ingham: Sphagna.. 351 



trees, leaves, fruit, etc., but sometimes animal bodies. It 

 may be said that bacteria cannot exist under peat mosses. 



II. — Ix Social Life. 



1. Sphagnum moss is now manufactured into blankets, 

 carpets, rugs, wadding, paper, cardboard, and is an isolating 

 materia] superior to cork. 



2. They make excellent bedding material, and when they 

 become lumpy, they can be restored to their original softness 

 by being taken out and placed in water, and then dried in a 

 shady place. As far as we know these plants can be wetted 

 and dried for an indefinite time without being subject to decay. 



3. The production of peat gas for power purposes has proved 

 a success. 



4. They are admirably adapted to spreading over the floors 

 of stables, which are thus kept dry and clean, a result not to be 

 obtained by using straw for that purpose. 



5. The plants are used largely by gardeners in the culti- 

 vation of heaths and rhododendrons, and everyone is familiar 

 with them on pots of orchids. 



0. In a dry form they are sometimes used as a filling for 

 pillows and mattresses, especially those used by invalids. They 

 may also be wrapped around steam-pipes or packed in the walls 

 of houses, where they act as a non-conducting substance. 



7. In northern regions they are used for lining clothes, 

 especially boots, and as wicks for lamps. 



8. During the present great war, they are being extensively 

 used in surgical dressing, being admirable for filling small pads 

 to place upon wounds, because they are exceedingly light and 

 also have the valuable property of being antiseptic. Another 

 advantage is they are very plentiful in these islands. 



In 191 1, Warnstorf published his life's work on these plants, 

 the book being known as Sphagnologia Universalis, dealing 

 with the Sphagna of the whole world. 



Probably that monumental work will stand for all time. 



Mr. J. A. Wheldon, F.L.S., of Liverpool, has had the privilege 

 of studying the above work, and based upon it, he produced in 

 June, 1917, a Synopsis of the European Sphagna. 



On account of the close connection Sphagna have with water, 

 combined with their delicate structure, we should expect great 

 variation, and this has led Warnstorf to adopt forms, but most 

 of these are separated from their varieties by structural differ- 

 ences. Even colour with these plants has some importance, 

 as the writer has found a ruby red Sphagnum in the middle of 

 a yellow species, about three inches across, so the habitat in 

 this case was not the cause of the difference in colour between 

 the two species. 



1917 Nov. 1. 



