Peat and its Products. 
753 
“Levels” 1 in Cambridgeshire and adjoining counties; also by the low 
grounds of the ancient gulf of Poitou, the filled-up estuary of Flanders, the 
largest part of Holland, and of German and Danish Friesland. 
The chief characteristics exhibited by a section of a work- 
able peat moss are thus referred to 2 bv Professor James Geikie, 
F.ll.S. : — 
The bestyjmfs are cast towards the bottom of a peat moss. They show 
a somewhat close and compact texture, so much so as occasionally to 
resemble coal. Above this the peat begins to lose its more compact 
structure, and vegetable libres may be detected, which on a closer inspec- 
tion are recognisable as those of a moss. Towards the upper portions of 
the section this appearance becomes still more conspicuous, and the peat 
seems to consist almost entirely of mossy fibres. Throughout the section 
long grasses may be seen, sparingly in the lower portions, and becoming 
more abundant as we near the top, where twigs of heather begin to miDgle 
with them. The upper surface or crust of the peat moss (a foot more or 
less in thickness) seems to be made up chiefly of heather and grasses, and 
such plants as Polytrichum. When peat moss wants this crust, it generally 
shows a treacherous surface covered with moss, into which the unwary 
pedestrian may sink deeper than he might have expected. Small areas of 
this nature are not uncommon, but they may be considered as exceptional 
cases. Most peat mosses are provided with a crust of heath and grass. 
This crust is termed “heather,” and sometimes “bill peat,” from its 
common occurrence on the slopes and summits of hills, where it does not 
necessarily overlie true moss peat. It seldom exceeds a foot or two in 
thickness, and ought properly to be considered as turf rather than peat. 
Referring to the present aspect of the peat mosses, the same 
observer states that the formation has not only ceased in most 
cases, but is gradually disappearing. The moisture which in 
former times afforded it nourishment and support is now its chief 
enemy. Every shower of rain, every frost, gives fresh impetus to 
the decay ; and, leaving altogether out of account the operations 
of agriculture, there can be no doubt that natural causes alone 
would, in time, suffice to strip the last vestige of black peat 
from hill and valley. 
The surface of peat which has ceased to grow is usually 
covered with short scrubby heath and rusty grasses, but often 
so sparsely that every here and there the black peaty mould 
peers through. In many cases, indeed, the decomposing peat 
lies exposed and bare, with not a tuft of heather or blade of 
grass to be seen. Peat mosses of this description are not con- 
* 1 , “ North Level ” ; 2, “ Middle Level ” ; 3, “ South Level ” ; and 4, “ Bed- 
ford Level.” The sluice at St. Germains, draining the “ Middle Level,” broke 
in 1862, and inundated upwards of 1,000 acres of the “ Marshland ” between 
that and the sea. The “ Marshland” was enclosed before the “ Middle Level,” 
which was drained about GO years ago. 
2 On the Buried Forests and Peat Mosses of Scotland, and the Changes of 
Climate which they indicate. By James Geikie. Transactions of the Royal 
Society of Edinburgh. Vol. XXIV, 1867, 
VOL. IV, T. S, — Iff 3 D 
