208 
NATURE NOTES. 
the valuable memoranda which they have made in the past 
season, and embod}' them in the form of a paper for publication 
in Nature Notes, contributing thereby towards the solution of 
some abstruse problem of natural science. Such as these 
may be likened to the industrious ant of the fable. Some, 
like the grasshopper, nray have wasted the golden opportunities 
of summer. They have, let us suppose, limited their observa- 
tion to the natural phenomena of a lawn tennis court, and now, 
perhaps, find themselves without prospect of any rational 
occupation for months to come. 
Are these improvident people really past salvation ? Not at 
all, for however limited the range of subjects in the animal king- 
dom may happen to be, in the vegetable kingdom the case is 
otherwise. It is true that the flowering plants and ferns present 
but few attractions to the collector, but the cellular cr3’ptogams 
are a playground wherein he may indulge himself to his heart’s 
content. Most of us are aware that this group of plants in- 
cludes the mosses, lichens, sea-w'eeds and fungi, all of which 
may be studied with tolerable facility in the winter. Certain 
disadvantages attach to the pursuit of the three latter natural 
orders. The sea-weeds are available only for those to whom the 
coast is accessible : the lichens are most abundant in mountain- 
ous regions, and are liable to be buried deep in snow : the fungi 
are extremely difficult to preserve, and do not prosper during 
frost or prolonged drought. But the mosses are peculiarly 
suited for winter collection, and to them the present remarks 
shall be confined. 
These unobtrusive but beautiful little plants, so universally 
distributed bj' nature, so much neglected by man, are within 
the reach of all, and thoroughly deserve the closest attention 
that may be bestowed upon them. A large number of them 
ripen their fruits between autumn and spring, a most con- 
venient arrangement, for on structural differences of the fruit 
the classification is largely based. They are easily' collected 
and dried, and take up little room when stow'ed away. They 
resist decay, and are not liable to destruction by insects. Upon 
being soaked in water they speedil}'’ resume a life-like appear- 
ance. They can thus be hunted for and gathered during the 
daily constitutional, and put aside for investigation till the 
evening or the first rainy day. Their delicate tissues and 
minute organs are exquisitely beautiful objects for microscopic 
examination. 
A word or two as to the literature. Until lately there was 
felt to be a want of some good but cheap and elementary Avork 
on simple lines which should be in keeping with the present 
state of our bryological knowledge. Happily this want no 
longer exists. Bagnall’s Handbook of Mosses is just such a w'ork 
as was required, and is obtainable at a low price. A better 
introduction could not well be conceived, the subject is most 
clearly and adequately treated. Mr. Bagnall shows the young 
