30 CONNECTICUT GEOL. AND NAT. HIST. SURVEY. [Bull. 
they exercise a marked influence on both agriculture and 
forestry. Their importance from this point of view, which is 
only beginning to be appreciated, has been clearly demonstrated 
by Georg Roth.* According to this author, the mosses tend 
to diminish floods and to reduce the gullying of the soil, at 
the same time preserving its porosity. They are also of value 
in adding to the richness of the soil through their decay and 
in assisting in the disintegration of rocks. The Sphagnales, 
through their peculiar place and habit of growth, are active 
in converting lakes and ponds into bogs, which afford a foot- 
hold for higher plants and eventually yield a serviceable soil. 
From a commercial standpoint the Sphagnales are by far 
the most important of the Bryophytes. In countries where 
they are abundant they yield the best quality of peat. This 
is produced by the death of the older portions of the Peat 
Mosses, the living stems continuing their upward growth 
indefinitely. As the dead layer becomes thicker, it becomes 
more and more compressed, and finally forms a firm and com- 
pact mass at the bottom of the bog. This mass is cut into 
bricks, which are dried and constitute the peat of commerce. 
Of course the chief use of peat as a fuel is for domestic 
purposes. In certain localities, however, it is charred and then 
used in steel and copper mills, where its purity from foreign 
substances and its power to produce an intense heat make it 
especially effective. 
The Peat Mosses are also useful as a packing substance. 
In a dry form they are sometimes employed 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 sub- 
stance. In a moist form they are being more and more used 
by gardeners and florists as a packing material for vegetables 
and other cultivated plants. Owing to their great power of 
absorption, Peat Mosses are sometimes substituted for straw 
in stables, and they have also been employed to a limited extent 
in surgical dressings. The same peculiarity makes it possible 
to use them for lamp-wicks in the far north. 
*Die europdischen Laubmoose. 1: 62-77. Leipzig, r905. 
