FEH> T S AND MOSSES. 25 
Wherever a small stream wanders in the same wild loca-. 
lity, there the Rigid Thread-moss (Bryum rigidum] finds a 
home. Rills supplied hy rain are not unfrequent on con- 
siderable elevations, and the naturalist who could ascend 
some of the most accessible, would often find the mosses 
that grow in valleys. This occurs in the instance of the 
Rigid Thread-moss, which thrives best where springs ooze 
from out the ground. Its diminutive relative, Paludoswn, 
abounds in its vicinity, and may be seen on dripping rocks, 
or nestling among the massive roots of giant trees, which 
are rendered continually moist by extending in their neigh- 
bourhood. 
Different species of the family of the Earth - moss 
(Phascum} are uniformly pioneers to their more attractive 
brethren. The Sharp-leaved Dwarf Earth-moss (P. acaulon] 
is extremely minute ; but wherever it appears, with its 
soft and delicate leaves, a few lines in length, and forming 
globular clusters, he who passes away, and returns after the 
lapse of a few years, will find its herbless haunt covered 
with bushes, perhaps even with young sappling oaks or 
elms. The Beardless Earth-moss (P. muticum) may be 
readily distinguished by its red and yellow capsules, which 
become brown in autumn, and often present a pleasing con- 
trast to the vivid green of various kinds. The whole plant 
is extremely minute ; it attains occasionlly to an elevation 
of half an inch, though more generally is only three or four 
lines high. But however diminutive, the Capillary-branched 
Earth-moss (P. serratuni) is still smaller. This fairy- 
formed moss resembles, at first sight, a thread-like byssus, 
and would be scarcely visible to the eye if it did not grow 
in patches. Conjectured to be a connecting link between 
the Musci and Algae, partaking likewise of the nature of 
Phascum and Conferva, it consists of numerous filaments, 
which, when subjected to a magnifier, appear creeping, 
cylindrical, branched, and jointed like a conferva ; the in- 
terstices pellucid, the joints darker green: and yet, how- 
