THE MOSS TRIBE. 279 



flowering- plants, as to render it extremely doubtful 

 whether they can really be considered of the same 

 nature. 



At the end of the shoots of some Mosses such as 

 Hairmoss (Polytrichum), the leaves spread into a 

 starry form, and become coloured with brown. Among 

 them lie a number of cylindrical whitish -green bodies 

 {fig. 70 which are transparent at the point, and filled 

 with a cloudy granular matter, which it is said that 

 they discharge with some degree of violence. These 

 are considered to be anthers. But they appear to 

 exist in some Mosses only, and not to be universally 

 present, as they would be if they were really necessary 

 to produce fertilization. 



The second kind of apparatus is universally pro- 

 vided, and is in reality the forerunner of the theca. In 

 the bosom of other leaves you may find, a short time 

 after Mosses have begun to grow, a cluster of little 

 greenish bodies {fig. 6.), which are thickest at their 

 lower end, then taper upwards into a slender pipe, 

 and at last expand into a sort of shallow cup. After 

 a certain time the pipe and the cup, which, by some, 

 are considered style and stigma, shrivel up, and the 

 lower part, or ovary, swells, acquires a stalk, and 

 finally changes into a theca. 



The study of the distinctions of Mosses requires 

 iireat care and attention, and much skill in the use 

 of the microscope. It has sometimes occupied the 

 undivided attention of Botanists, and cannot be at- 

 tended to without much leisure and patience. The 

 best work we have upon the subject is the Muscologia 



