NATURE FOR ITS OWN SAKE 
The work 
of mosses 
and lichens. 
no sooner exposed to the light, the air, and the 
rain than they begin to darken and deepen in 
hue under the pencilling of the lichens. Even 
where the plant form is not recognizable, there 
is a grayish or greenish spot that tells of its 
coming. It may come slowly, for these hardy 
growths are never in a hurry to gain maturity. 
They know not time, yet they are never idle. 
Suns come and go and count out human years, 
but always with the lichens new spores are form- 
ing, new threads are creeping, new hues are 
gathering on stone and cliff and peak. 
Tt seems a menial office—a humble part at 
best to play in this beautiful world—to pro- 
tect and stain the rocks so that they shall 
withstand the elements and harmonize with the 
green of the trees and the blue of the sky ; but 
how patiently the task is wrought, how faith- 
fully the part is played! Green moss and gray 
lichen! ‘The least pretentious of nature’s crea- 
tions they are, and yet how inevitably they 
again force a contrast with the handiwork of 
man! No human skill could weave such car- 
pets; no dyes could produce such colors; no 
machines could stamp such patterns! The 
fabric is perfect of its kind. 
Nature is above all! Unseen the loom, un- 
