346 
MUSCI. 
creation to be good. Many of their uses we know ; that they 
have many more which we know, not, is unquestionable, since 
there is probably no one thing in the universe, of which we can 
dare to assert, that we know all its uses. Thus much we are 
certain of with respect to mosses, that as they flourish most in 
winter, and at that time cover the ground with a beautiful green 
carpet, in many places which would otherwise be naked, and 
when little verdure is elsewhere to be seen ; so at the same 
time they shelter and preserve the seeds, roots, germs and em- 
bryo plants of many vegetables, which would otherwise perish. 
They furnish materials for birds to build their nests with, they 
afford a warm winter’s retreat for some quadrupeds, such as 
bears, dormice and the like, and for numberless insects which 
are the food of birds and fishes, and these again the food or 
delight of men. Many of them grow on rocks and barren 
places, and by rotting away, afford the first principles of vege- 
tation to other plants, which never else could have taken root 
there. Others grow in bogs and marshes, and by continual in- 
crease and decay, fill up and convert them either into fertile 
pastures or into peat bogs, the source of inexhaustible fuel to the 
polar regions. 
“ They are applicable also to many domestic purposes. The 
Lycopodiums are some of them, used in the dyeing of yarn, and in 
medicine ; the Sphagnum, (peat moss,) and Polytrichum fur- 
nish convenient beds for the Laplanders, and the Hypnums are 
used in the tiling of houses, stopping crevices in walls, pack- 
ing brittle wares, and the roots of plants, for distant con- 
veyance. 
“ To which may be added, that all in general, contribute enter- 
tainment and agreeable instruction to the contemplative mind of 
the naturalist, at a season when few other plants offer themselves 
to his view. 
“ The Fungi have been suspected by some to be, like sponges 
and corals, the habitations of some unknown living beings, and 
being alkaline, have been classed in the animal kingdom ; but 
they are known to produce seeds, from which perfect plants 
have been raised ; and the celebrated Hedwig by great dexter- 
ity of dissection, and by using microscopes of very highly mag- 
nifying powers, assures us, that he has discovered both stamens 
andpistils not only in this order of plants, but in the other or- 
ders of the Cryptogamous family.”* 
* Thornton’s Botany. 
Various uses of the mosses. 
