Musci. 261 



botanist comes on them unawares, when in search of the more 

 obtrusive subjects of his study. Moor and mountain species have 

 never failed to reward our walks even in the solstice. 



Although everywhere common, and very dissimilar amongst them- 

 selves, the vulgar do not distinguish mosses specifically. The term 

 " fog " comprehends many species of Hypna. The larger kinds of 

 this genus are used for packing fruits, for sheltering plants in flower- 

 pots, and for cleansing worms for the use of the angler. They give 

 shelter to myriads of insects during the winter. The Polytrichum 

 vulgare, from its superior size and heathery habit, has got the name 

 of ^ilbtr^fteatijer or giponge-ftjati^cr, and is sometimes manufac- 

 tured into neat brushes and door-mats. 



The Sphagna act the principal part in filling up pools and marshes 

 in moors * ; and, by their rapid growth and decomposition, they 

 contribute more than all other plants — carices, floating grasses, 

 pondweeds, marsh-cinquefoil, charae and confervse — to the formation 

 of peat -f. Boggy ground where the Sphagna grow freely is mostly 

 an interesting field for the naturalist, but which he must traverse 

 warily. In an autumn's eve, I once found myself lost in the middle 

 of a large peat-ground on Coldingham moor, when the darkness ren- 

 dered my path insecure and doubtful. I waled my way to where a 

 silent and noiseless labourer was still digging his winter fuel, and, on 

 receiving directions how to proceed homewards, I inquired of him 

 "if there was any danger?" when I got the satisfactory answer, — 

 " Ooh ! nane at a', Sir, if ye dinna fa' into a peat hole." 



Our rare species are — 



Phascum alternifolium. Bervfickshire : the exact locality 

 unnoted. 



Gymnostomum conicum. B. Sea-banks at Greenheugh, J. 

 Hardy. 



G. TENTiE. D. On a shelving sandstone rock in the plantation 

 on the river side above Ord-mill. 



Tetraphis brow^niana. N. On the under side of a shelving 

 rock in the dean at Twizell-house, where it was discovered by Dr. 

 Greville. 



Splachnum mnioides. B. On the moor near Winden Cairn, 

 on a mixture of sheep and cow-dung, lying in a hollow from which a 



* When they grow in a dry site the Sphagna become reddish ; and green 

 when submerged in water. — "The moors about Dirrington are full of Di- 

 cranum glaucum. I never found anything but Sphagnum in such situa- 

 tions on Coldingham moor." J. Hardy. 



f " At a place called Handy's-land in Coldingham moor, a peat moss 

 was totally burnt out within the memory of many ])ersons. The peat is 

 now a foot deep, and already is dug, and foi-ms an excellent turf." J. Hardy. 



Some peat, however, is formed principally of the rotted wood of Hazel, 



Birch, and such like water-loving trees. A very well marked example of 

 this peat is met with at Grant's-House. 



