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L Y C O P 
fcribes their germination, radicle, cotyledons, See. fo that 
we tnuIt allow the exiftence of two kinds of feed on the 
fame plant. The fame phenomenon has been fufpe&ed 
an the genera Fucus and Conferva ; though botanilts have 
been fojuftly cautious of admitting it, that they have not 
dared to truft their own eyes. Perhaps the aftual exig¬ 
ence of the faft in Lycopodium may fa nil ion our belief 
of it in thefe other in dances. The difference however be¬ 
tween thefe two kinds of feeds in Lycopodium is far 
more effential than Sprengel feems to infmuate, when 
he fays it “ only proves that the capfules of feveral fpe- 
cies of this genus are of two different fhapes.” Nothing 
can be greater than the apparent difference betwixt the 
two kinds of feeds themfelves, which is fuch as to overfet 
all analogy hitherto known. We ought not to omit that 
jOillenius firft obferved thefe different kinds of feeds in 
Lycopodium, and has founded upon them the different 
genera into which he has divided it. 
The 14-th edition of the Syft. Veg. contains 29 fpecies of 
Lycopodium, fix of which are Britifh. ProfefforSwartz de¬ 
fines 65 ; exclufive of the Linnrean nudum, which he efta- 
bliflies as a diftinft genus, by the name of Pfilotum-, as 
well as of feveral others, which he finds mentioned in 
books, but could not fatisfaiSforily afeertain. Fifteen 
fpecies have axillary fertile capfules, all uniform, of two 
valves, containing the above-deferibed powdery kind of 
feeds. The remaining 50 bear their capfules in terminal 
fpikes, each capfule being accompanied by a peculiar fcale 
or braftea, generally toothed or fringed, totally unlike 
the leaves, and moftly of a paler or more tawny colour. 
Of thefe 50, twenty-fix have the fame kind of capfules 
and feeds as the above 15, and no other; one, L. felagi- 
noides, has, befides fuch capfules, very remarkable four- 
lobed ones, of two three-lobed valves,and containing four 
globofe white feeds. The remainder have kidney-fhaped 
as well as roundilb, rarely three-lobed, capfules, either in¬ 
termixed in the fame fpike, or the former are in the up¬ 
per part, the latter in the lower. By this llatCment it ap¬ 
pears, that no known fpecies is without the kidney-fhaped 
comprefled capfule, bearing the minute duft-like feed, 
analogous to that of ferns; the larger globofe feed being, 
as it f'eems, more of an adventitious nature. 
Dr. Weftring, phyfician to the king of Sweden, lias 
obtained excellent dyes from different fpecies of Lycopo¬ 
dium. The following is the method which he has found 
to be the mod fimple : Take a quantity of this mofs, dried 
and chopped, nearly double the weight of the cloth to be 
dyed. Put them into a proper vert'd, a ftratum of the mofs 
between every fold of the cloth, and pour on a quantity 
of water fufficient to cover the whole. Boil them toge¬ 
ther for two or three hours, adding more water from time 
to time, to fupply the place of what is waited by evapo¬ 
ration. Take out the cloth thus prepared, wring it, and 
bang it up to dry without rinfing. When the cloth is to 
be dyed, it rauft be rinfed carefully in cold water, put into 
a well-tinned copper with cold water, and a fmall quantity 
of brafil-wood, and then boiled gently for half an hour or 
more, according as the tint is to be deeper or lighter. If 
too much brafil be ufed, the dye will have a violet hue. 
When it is taken from the fire, the cloth is to be rinfed in 
cold water. Care tnuft be taken that none of the com¬ 
mon mordants, either faline or affringent, are ufed; for 
they would alter the colour. 
M. Bucholz has, from various experiments upon the 
feeds of Lycopodium, found that they contain, 1. a fix- 
teenth part of a fat oil of brownifh yellow, and foluble 
in alcohol; 2. a portion of real fugar; 3. a vifeous ex- 
trad! of a brownifh yellow, and an infipid tafte ; 4. the 
refidue,'after being treated with alcohol and water, may 
be regarded as a peculiar producl of the vegetable king¬ 
dom ; 5. the yellowifli afpedf of the feed in this latter 
ftate indicates the union of a fpecies of pigment with 
the firft principle of the feed, or, at leaft, a very inti¬ 
mate union of the conftituent parts of this feed ; 6. the 
oily part which enters into the compofitipn of this /eed 
ODIUM. 815 
occafions its lively combuftion, and its conflant repara¬ 
tion from water. 
We (hall now, as in the cafe of Lycoperdon, feledl a 
few fpecies as examples, and illuftrate them with figures; 
but thefe figures would not bear us out in joining with a 
brother cyclopasdift, who calls this genus “ one of the 
moft elegant in the w'hole vegetable kingdom.” 
1. Lycopodium linifolium, or flax-leaved club-mofs: 
leaves alternate, remote, lanceolate. Native of South 
America and the Weft Indies. The root is fibrous. Stems 
feemingly pendulous, above two feet long, (lender, (lightly 
branched, leafy throughout. Leaves fcattered, half an 
inch at leaft diftant from each other, often near two inches 
long, entire, taper-pointed, fomewhat ovate, and twilled 
at the bafe. Capfules axillary, folitary, kidney-fhaped. 
No other known fpecies can vie with this in the fize and 
diftance of its leaves. 
2. Lycopodium gnidioides: leaves three in a whorl, im¬ 
bricated, ovate-lanceolate, obtufe, entire. Branches elon¬ 
gated. Gathered in the ifland of Mauritius by Sonnerat 
or Commerfon, and given byThouin to the younger Lin¬ 
naeus. No other botanift feems to have feen the plant. It ap¬ 
pears to be very tall, with the habit of the former, but 
differs eflentially in its much clofed and whorled leaves, 
not half an inch long, blunt and concave, without rib or 
vein ; the upper ones very gradually fhorter and more ovate, 
with folitary, palifh, axillary, roundifh, flightly-reniforme, 
capfules. 
3. Lycopodium felago, or fir-leaved club-mofs: leaves 
fcattered ; pointing eight w'ays ; ftem forked, upright; 
branches all of the fame height; flowers fcattered. The 
leaves are obliquely difpofed in eight rows, which may be 
bed obferved by holding the ends of the branches per¬ 
pendicular to the eye. Stems upright, branched, from 
three to feven inches high, forked; branches again forked, 
clofely covered with leaves. Leaves fpear-fhaped, (harp- 
pointed, (tiff, fmooth, (hining, fcolloped or ferrated, and 
cartilaginous at the edge. Capfules in the bofom of the 
upper leaves, kidney-fhaped, flatted, yellow, opening like 
an oyfter, and pouring out a pale yellow' powder. Root 
dividing into forks like the ftem. The whole plant very 
firm and ft iff; from two to five inches high. Inhabits 
mountainous heaths, in the clefts of rocks, in Yorkfhire, 
Lancafhire, Weftmoreland, Cumberland, the Highlands 
and Hebrides ; near the top of Ingleborough, Yorkfhire ; 
mountains in the north ; and on Dartmoor ; flowers from 
April to October. It purges, vomits, and deftroys worms, 
A decodlion of it is a cure for lice in fwine and cattle. 
Its properties feem to challenge further inquiry. 
4. Lycopodium phlegmaria : leaves ovate, heart-fhaped, 
entire ; the lower ones four in a whorl. Spikes thread- 
fhaped, forked. This grows in various parts of the Eall 
Indies, as well as in the Ifle of Bourbon ; Mr. Menzies 
gathered it in Otaheite. It is eighteen inches or more in 
height, (lightly forked or branched, clothed with numerous 
flrining leaves, not fo regularly whorled, at leaft the up. 
per ones, as Dillenius found them. The long, terminal, 
(lender forked fpikes, with their little roundifh bradteas 
fcarcely broader than the accompanying capfules, are very 
lingular. 
5. Lycopodium alpinum,or mountain club-mofs: leaves 
pointing four ways ; tiled, acute; fterns upright, cloven; 
fpikes fitting, cylindrical. The ftem creeping, from a 
fpan to a foot long. Brandies alternate, at an inch dif¬ 
tance from each other, upright, forked, length of a little 
finger. Little branches bundled, from twenty to thirty 
together, exactly four-cornered, the angles blunt. Leaves 
thickifh. Fruit-ftalks terminating a branch here and there, 
fcarcely two or three lines high, forked, fcarcely difiiu- 
guifhable from the branches, covered with fmaller leaves, 
bearing as many fpikes. Spikes egg-fliaped, nearly fmooth. 
All the branches divided, and frequently fubdivided into 
forks. Upright (hoots one and a half to three inches 
long; thinner than the fpikes which they fupport. In¬ 
habits mountainous heaths in Yprkflure, Cumberland, 
3 and 
