( m? 3 
is from December to February. The ftru&ure 
of the capfules will be found nearly the (ame 
in all the moffes. Mr. Curtis has, however, 
difcovered fome peculiarities in thofe of bry'um 
fubulatum, or awled bry'um, and in poly'tri- 
chum fubrotundum, or dwarf poly'trichum, 
which are worthy of further attention. The 
bry'um, after it has loft it's calyptre and oper- 
culum, protrudes from it's mouth a fubftance, 
which by magnifiers is found to confift of a 
number of filaments, forming a thin fpiral 
tube, loofe and unconnected at the top : this 
tube may be feen through the tranlparent 
operculum, forming in it's young Hate a 
fmall fpiral line. Mr. Curtis does not even 
conjecture what may be the ufe of this extra- 
ordinary appendage ; it may perhaps be the 
receptacle of the feeds within the capfule, 
which, on arriving at maturity, burfts open 
the covers, and difperfes it's contents. To 
afcertain this, there fhould be fowed repeatedly 
a great number of thefe capfules, with and 
without the tubes, and the tubes without 
the capfules. There would, however, be great 
nicety in the time that thefe capfules were 
gathered : it is poffible that, at the moment 
of protrufion, the vegetating power may be 
loft; 
