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been found on the summits of Mt. Marcy, Mt. Mansfield and on Mt. Wash- 

 ington, along the bridle-path, and on the timbers of the stable. There is one 

 species only, which is found in the Southern States. In Europe they used 

 to be common in Alpine pastures, but are growing rare, owing to the drying 

 up and draining of the marshes. It is strange that they are able to main- 

 tain such a sporadic and scattered existence, when their food-supply is so 

 uncertain and peculiar. New York Botanical Garden. 



ON SOME FOSSIL MOSSES. 



By John M. Holzinger. 



Fossil mosses are rare. It is, therefore, with pleasure that I report on 

 some from Iowa. In 1897 Prof. T. H. MacBride took from a railroad cut near 

 Oelwein, Iowa, several wads of moss embedded in blue clay at a depth of 32 

 feet below the surface of the ground, beneath the Kansas Drift. This mate- 

 rial was intrusted to Prof. P. C. Myers, at present science teacher in the 

 Winona High School, for the purpose of ascertaining the presence of diatoms 

 in the clay matrix, and it is from Mr. Myers that I have received this mate- 

 rial for examination. 



So far as I can ascertain, the age of the deposit under which this moss 

 is found is estimated to be between 5,000 and 10,000 years. Small wonder, 

 therefore, that the stems have become rather brittle. However, it is 

 possible, as I have found by careful manipulation, to float out some 

 stems which show the characteristic branching and leaf position of certain 

 Harpidia, notably of Hypnitm fiicitaiis, and my conclusion after considera- 

 ble work on this fragmentary moss, the leaf areolation of which is admiirably 

 preserved, is that it is certainly one of the Harpidia and comes nearest to 

 Hypnum fiuitans brachydictyon Ren. The preservation of this moss for so 

 long a period is a matter of surprise. Two causes seemed to have conspired. 

 First, it is a well known fact that peat bogs formed by the annual addition 

 of vegetable matter furnished to the subaqueous stratum, have by this pro- 

 cess antiseptic properties imparted to the water tending to preserve certain 

 organic forms, and the aquatic habit of this Harpidium, together with the 

 blue clay surrounding it (the color of blue clay being due to the presence of 

 carbonaceous matter from bogs), point to this antiseptic bog water as a preserv- 

 ative. Secondly, the matrix, the blue clay, seems to have formed an effec- 

 tive mechanical protection, hermetically sealing it under tons of its sub- 

 stance against the access of air. This second element of protection alone 

 could not have effected the preservation, and the first mentioned element, 

 the antiseptic property of carbonaceous mud in bogs, has probably been the 

 principal factor. 



In this connection it is proper to call attention to an article in the Botan- 

 isches Centralblatt, 1901, Bd. X, Heft 3, on "'A Fossil Moss from the Vicinity 

 of Fulda," Germany. (Ueber ein Fossiles Laubmoos aus der Umgebung von 

 Fulda,) by Mr. Adelbert Geheeb. The author, supported by Dr. K. Schliep- 

 hacke, determined this moss as Hypnum fiuitans fossile. Amblystegium 



