FEEXS 
MOSSES. 
out the soft and elastic moss to dry in the hot sun, and. 
having obtained a piece of the same size for a coverlid, they 
tranquilly lie down to rest amid those wondrous solitudes, 
where the sun, after a momentary setting in glory above 
the horizon, recommences his ceaseless course. 
COMMON HAIR-MOSS. 
The formation of the capsule is equally curious with that 
of the poppy. It is covered with an-elegantly shaped 
umbrella, such as Titania might carry in her hand ; when 
the seeds ripen, the small cords that kept the umbrella in 
its place begin to loosen, some sportive zephyr jerks it in 
playful mood from off the capsule, and down it falls upon 
the earth. The stem then gradually bends, the straight 
stalk forms a curvature, and the seed-vessel being reversed, 
empties its seeds as from a pitcher. 
Thus wonderfully is the moss constructed. Linnaeus was, 
perhaps, the first who observed . its conformation, when, 
journeying in quest of plants, he came into the savage wil- 
