IVEUNS AXD MOSSES. I 
off of the lid discovers the opening, which is generally 
ornamented by a circle of saw -like teeth. 
Mosses are exquisitely varied, and many of the stems 
which uphold flowers containing one or 'more stamens, but 
no pistils, have a star-like appearance at the top. Beautiful 
in their minuteness, they form interesting objects for the 
microscope ; their serrated and ribbed leaves are uniformly 
thin, pellucid, and veined like network; the roots are 
fibrous ; and not unfrequently both stems and branches 
throw out fine roots whenever they come in contact with 
the earth, or any supporting substance. Some few are so 
exquisitely fine as to require a high magnifier in order to 
discover their various parts ; yet even these have stems and 
capsules, and occasionally present the appearance of fairy 
trees ; more generally they are from one to three inches 
high, though the great Hair-moss (Polytrichum commune), 
and some kinds of bog-moss, which grow in watery places, 
are nearly two feet in height. 
Obtain a microscope, if you wish to study mosses atten- 
tively, and to become acquainted with the most delicate 
species ; one with a simple lens will magnify sufficiently, 
and for this purpose we recommend Ellis's aquatic micro- 
scope, according to the suggestion of Dr. Drummond. If, 
on the contrary, you are contented with less close investiga- 
tions, a common magnifying glass, purchased for a few 
shillings, will suffice. Thus will a new world be opened to 
your minds ; and many a moss or lichen-dotted stone that 
would otherwise be passed unheeded will become suggestive 
of much that is worthy of regard. 
Ireland has been deservedly called the paradise of mosses ; 
some of the most beautiful species grow there abundantly 
beneath the shade of trees in marshes, and beside water- 
falls ; the Fontinalls antipyretica, or Greater Water-moss, 
especially, which delights in the neigbourhood of cataracts, 
and flourishes the most where a racing stream eddies eside 
its growing place, and tosses on high its billowy spray. 
