The seven vegetable families. 199 
one from my own. But as fliere is in the refl of the Plant a fufficient dif- 
tindlion, the inner Rind extending itfelf fingly in the place of Leaves, a 
Cbarader which fo far as I have feen, is peculiar to the Mosses among all 
Vegetable Nature, I have fixed the mark of the Family there. 
The fpecies which is here feleded for the illudration of this Family, is 
one of the mod: common : the fpecimens ufed in the prefent enquiry were 
gathered from the low wall round the Refervoir in Hyde Park. It grows 
only facing the North and North-Eaft : To the Ead, tho’ the wall is wet- 
ter, there is none; nor to any other quarter. 
The Tufts are large ; but each Globule is a didindt Plant: It flowers 
and decays. Be the Tuft ever fo big, there are no other Plants in it but 
fuch as have heads in them for this feafon, or on the decayed remains of 
lad. They entangle by their Fibres, but do not rife in Sucker^. 
The Seed of February ripens in April, and is died. Young Mants ap- 
pear in Odlober, and dower the February following. V’e fee them 011 
feparate fpwts, but mod are near one another. The Stalk rifes from the 
center of the Globe of Leaves. The Leaves, that is the whole Globe, 
decay when the Seed is died ; fo the old Plants appear deeper rooted in the 
Tuft than the others. 
The Seeds are light and tender: the greater part is lod ; but thofe which 
fall upon the Tuft naturally fucceed ; for they have defence and moidure. 
The old Plants from which the Capfule role, by degrees decay ; and the 
Seeds which were at fird lodged among them, dwelled with moidure, and 
ready to drike, dioot out their Roots, and grow into Plants for the fucceed- 
ing feafon. 
We fee this Moss ufually in roundifli, or long Tufts, rooted in the 
mortar between the bricks of an old wall. Each tuft is compofed of a 
multitude of Plants ; We find thefe, tho’ difiindf at the head, yet entangled 
drangely by the Roots. The whole Tuft, at this feafon, confids of Plants 
in three dates; fome very confpicuous, being in their perfedlion ; others^ 
which require more examination to difeover them, being lefs grown ; and 
others in decay. The perfedl Plants have a long Stalk rifing from the 
center of the Globule, and crowned with its proper Head. Plate XVIL 
Fig. I, X X X. The younger Plants confid of a green Globule, with a 
Head in the center ; the top of whofe Calyptra, or Cover, only appears, 
y. The decayed Plants have fometimes the remains of lad year’s Stalk, 
tho’ ufually it is fallen out before this time ; and the Tuft of Leaves is no 
longer globular, but fpread open, z : all greatly magnified. 
The 
