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perichetiale; Hooker names it Trichostomum perichetiale 
in Muse. Exot.; and Griffiths figures it as Didymodon peri- 
cheetiale. The name Symblepharis is, however, expressive of 
the appearance of the capsule, and, as we find it in Flor. 
Tasm. arranged as above, it will be advisable so to accept it 
here. The perichetal leaves are very long, and, when dry, 
twist around the fruit-stalk sometimes as high as the capsule. 
TRIBE 3.—FISSEDENTIA. 
Genus 8.—FIssEDENS. 
The character of the foliage of this genusat once distinguishes 
it from any other genus of mosses. It is the little beauty of 
the whole Natural Order. To make its acquaintances we 
must explore the very little caves and grottoes to be found n 
every shaded clayey bank, for the small plume-shaped fronds 
appear to avoid exposure to the strong light of day, as wellas 
to seek shelter from the passing storm. At this time of the 
year the minute capsules cast off their lids and expand the 
bright red peristomes in order to permit the contained spores 
to mature and escape; in this state they present a charming 
appearance under a low power of the microscope. The foliage 
-is distichous; this character gives the charm to the plant ; 
indeed observed with a common pocket lens a tuft of 
Fissedens presents the appearance of a Lilliputian fernery 
with the addition of richly coloured masses of peristome 
crowning the gracefully curved fruitstalks. 
The African traveller, Mungo Park, has made famous a 
variety of the first species of this genus, Fissedens bryoides ; 
after being exposed in the sultry parts ofthat continent to many 
privations, towards the close of one day the traveller, sad, 
faint, and weary, sat him down to rest and consider his 
position ; his eye rested upon one small tuft of this moss in 
the wilderness around him, he gathered it, and as he did so, 
after a little reflection, he took encouragement therefrom, and 
banished the fear of a scorching grave in the unknown waste 
from his mind, the promise of moisture was before him, and 
in a short time he escaped the danger that had just before 
appeared so threatening. 
One species, F. adiantioides, fruits laterally, and, as its 
mame implies, resembles, on a small scale, a species of 
Adiantum. The genus at one time belonged to the Dicrani, 
and if the form of the peristome, which is undoubtedly the 
Linnean rule for drawing the generic distinction, be adhered 
to, it should abide amongst them; but when so ereat an 
authority as Mr. Wilson, the author of the Muse. Britt., 
thinks it wise to employ the characters founded on the 
difference of foliage, and when other eminent authorities 
concur therein, we must abide by that arrangement. The 
