VIII. 
NOTES ON MOSSES; WITH A PRELIMINARY HERTFORDSHIRE 
MOSS-FLORA. 
By A. E. Gibbs. 
Read at Watford , 18^ March, 1884. 
One of the principal objects of a local Natural History Society 
should be to thoroughly and systematically record the indigenous 
productions of the country embraced within the area of its opera¬ 
tions, and as our own Society can point to so much valuable work 
done in various directions during the period of its existence, I am 
tempted to draw your attention to a few facts with regard to a 
class of plants which, up to the present, do not seem to have 
attracted much notice in the county. I will endeavour to give 
some little information about the Musci, and a preliminary list 
of species recorded during the past eighteen months from various 
Hertfordshire localities, with the result also of an examination 
of the mosses in the late Bev. W. H. Coleman’s herbarium, now 
in the possession of the Society. 
The main object of these few notes is to endeavour to induce 
more of our members to turn their attention to these little-regarded 
but interesting plants. The species found by myself were nearly 
all growing within a few miles of St. Albans, so I shall be very glad 
if any one will send me specimens from distant parts of the county, 
recording the exact locality in which each species was gathered. I 
shall be happy to return specimens when asked to do so, and also to 
assist members to the best of my ability to name their finds. 
At the end of the ‘ Flora Hertfordiensis ’ is a list of the Hertford¬ 
shire Mosses which were known to the Bev. W. H. Coleman. I 
have gone carefully through it, and have also examined the specimens 
themselves, which have come into the possession of the Society, and 
they prove that our Moss Flora is comparatively rich in species and 
will well repay careful investigation. Since I have acted as 
Becorder, I have noted the occurrence of about 130 species, 
including those found by Mr. Coleman. 
Moss-hunting is a pursuit which can be carried on by the botanist 
not only during the bright days of summer, but also and more 
especially during the dark dull winter months, when attention 
is less likely to be fully occupied by the larger and more highly- 
organised members of the Vegetable Kingdom. Every hedge-bank 
and old wall will make a good hunting-ground, for some kind 
of moss will be found thriving under any variety of circumstances. 
How they cover the old tree stump with a delicate embroidery 
of green, hiding decay and making death itself beautiful! Can we 
conceive a more picturesque object in the landscape than an old 
shed or ruined cottage with its thatched roof converted into a 
perfect nursery of Hypna and Tortulce ? These little plants even 
adorn the tomb itself, creeping over the time-worn stones in our 
older and more-neglected graveyards, and they conspire with their near 
