18 



The Naturalist. 



The habitats of mosses are very varied, for while some species will 

 grow either on the ground, on the trunk of a tree, or on a rock, others 

 will grow only in certain situations — some preferring fallow fields, 

 some only in calcareous soil, some at great elevations, others on dung, 

 or within the influence of salt-water spray, on rich moist banks, 

 dripping rocks, peaty heaths, in spongy bogs, or on naked clay. 



Some mosses are almost cosmopolitan, as Bryum argenteum, Fanaria 

 hygrometrica^ Polytrichum commune, Ceratodon purpureus^ and others. 

 There are very few British mosses which have not been also observed 

 on the continent of Europe, while Schimper enumerates 280 con- 

 tinental species not found in Britain. Out of 249 species recorded in 

 Hooker's " Flora of New Zealand," 41 are British or European. A 

 few ancient mosses have been found preserved in amber. 



Mosses seem to be of very little use. Sphagnum, when ground, is 

 used as a food by man in cold climates, it is also one kind of the rein- 

 deer's food. The Esquimaux use one species as a lamp-wick, and 

 peat, which is used as a fuel, is mostly composed of the remains of 

 mosses. In the trackless forests of America they are useful as a 

 compass to the traveller, for by their presence on the north side of 

 the trunks of trees, he can always tell which way to proceed. In a 

 dried state they are extensively used for packing. They also afford 

 lodgment and food to many insects, and if it were not for them, some 

 tracts of land would probably remain barren, as they gather amongst 

 their matted branches the fleeting particles of soil, and thus prepare 

 the way for a higher order of plants. 



Mosses can be easily cultivated in a small conservatory or fern-case. 



With regard to collecting and preserving mosses there is no 

 difficulty, for if you expose them to the air of an ordinary room they 

 will dry, and if soaked in water whenever wanted for examination, 

 they can then be examined as well as when freshly collected. Portions 

 are usually pressed flat and mounted on paper for the herbarium ; but 

 I have found Dr. Wesley's plan to be the most convenient for 

 herbarium purposes, that is — to place each species of moss in a paper 

 bag, which is numbered according to the London catalogue at one 

 corner, and all the other particulars necessary written on the bag ; the 

 bags are kept in a box in such a manner that the corners can be 

 turned down to look for any number wanted, which can be found, 

 examined, and replaced with facility. 



With regard to the minute systematic arrangement of mosses the 

 text-book must be consulted (of which the three relating to British 

 mosses are on the table) : the characters are obtained from the fruit, 



