288 
NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 
Moss 
cucors. 
Moss 
teclures. 
that would fit it to cover a royal throne. And 
the coloring of the mosses is not less wonder- 
ful. Chlorophyll is in their minute cells, as in 
those of the grasses and the leaves. The hue 
is green—evergreen in most of the wood-mosses 
—but what a variety in the color! You can 
hardly bring two pieces of moss together and 
find them of the same hue, because the con- 
ditions of light and moisture under which 
they grew were not the same. But none of 
the greens is harsh or discordant to the eye ; 
from olive to green-gold all are harmonious, 
and all luxuriant in their depth of hue. Again, 
how soft and grateful to the touch the texture 
of the mosses! The awns that start up with the 
earliest awakening of spring are delicacy itself ; 
and in the summer, when the tiny stems and 
leaves have woven their carpet of velvet, how 
pleasant it feels under the foot. The mosses were 
not designed to be walked upon by human feet, 
but, like the field-grasses, they areso constructed 
that human feet will not permanently injure 
them. Lying low on the ground, rain and hail 
fall upon them, snow covers them, frost binds 
them, but from none of these assaults comes 
harm. They were designed for places of ex- 
posure, but they were given a hardy, resistant 
