358 
LYCOPODIACE^. 
its use in either of these capacities must have been much less 
extensive than its historians imagined ; indeed, from certain 
references, it seems not improbable that many of its supposed 
virtues owe their origin to a passage in Dioscorides, on a plant 
which he calls Muscus marinus, and which, beyond all doubt, 
is one of the Algae. Mr. Ward informs me that whatever may 
have been its pristine fame, it holds no place in the modern 
Pharmacopoeia. Tragus observes that the Germans call the 
plant Weingrein, from its power of restoring injured wine.^ 
The same observation is repeated by his successors. 
Lightfoot, in his ‘ Flora Scotica,’ says that the Swedes make 
mats of the Club-moss to rub their feet on ; if this be true, it is 
remarkable that the fact should have escaped the notice of such 
observant men as Linneus and Wahlenberg, neither of whom 
makes the slightest allusion to the subject. Is it possible that 
Lightfoot has mistranslated the Swedish appellation of Matte- 
gras, a most appropriate name, simply equivalent to matted 
grass, and not at all implying its employment in the manufacture 
of mats ? 
The roots of this species are very tough, wiry, and pale in 
colour ; they are generally nearly straight and simple for an inch 
or more, then suddenly divided and tortuous ; they are usually 
placed singly and at rather long distances from each other, and 
do not penetrate deeply into the earth, but yet fix the creeping 
stem most firmly, and prevent any injurious action from the 
wind. It has been supposed that on lofty mountains this plant, 
forming as it does a compact matted turf, whence the Swedish 
name, serves to bind the surface of the soil more closely to- 
gether, and thus secure it from the continued crumbling away, 
to which, in exposed situations, it is constantly liable, from the 
effects of wind and rain. 
The stem is procumbent and repeatedly branched, the branches 
being at first slightly elevated, but soon becoming completely 
prostrate. It extends to a great length ; I have frequently found 
* Muscus terrestris vino pendulo impositus, intra paucos dies illud restituit. 
* * Hinc quidem apud Germanos museum terrestrem Weingrein nominant. 
— Tragus, 555 
