defend them against frost. In wet weather,
they preserve them from decay; and, during
the greatest drought, provide them with
moisture, and protect them from the burning
heat of the sun. Indeed, to the traveller in
the dense and trackless forests of North
America, they are pretty sure guides to the
points of the compass; growing chiefly upon
the northern sides of the trunks and branches
of the trees; as if, it is said, to shelter them
from the cold north wind, but, in reality,
because they find there most shade and
moisture.

The poor Laplanders derive several of
their comforts from mosses. Of the Golden
Maidenhair (Polytrichum commune), one of
the largest species of the moss tribe, they
form excellent beds, by cutting thick layers
of it; one of which serves as a mattress,
and the other as a coverlet. Linnæus tells
us that he himself often made use of such a
bed when he was travelling in Lapland.
These mossy cushions are so elastic that a
bed may be rolled up into a parcel small
enough to be carried under a man's arm, and
the inhabitants take them about with them
in their journeys. The Lapland women also
make great use of the grey bog-moss (Sphagnum
palustre), which is particularly soft like
a thick fur or fleece. In this they wrap their
infants, without any other clothing, and place
them in leathern cradles; which are also
lined with the moss. The little babies are
thus completed protected from the cold, like
young birds, in soft and warm nests. The
Greenlanders use this moss as tinder, and for
wicks to their lamps.

Such indeed is the elasticity of some mosses
when dried, that a pillow stuffed with a
particular species named Hypnum will explain,
it is said, if it may not have originally
suggested, the name from the Greek word
signifying sleep.

Mosses possess the singular property of
reviving when moistened, after having
become dry and to all appearance withered;
so that, even after they have been gathered
and kept in a dry state for many years, if put
into water, every part of them will expand,
and become apparently as fresh as when
growing. In a living state, they are useful
as package for the transmission of growing
plants, not being apt to grow mouldy, and
retaining their vitality and moisture for a
long period. When dry, they are suitable
for packing delicate and fragile articles, on
account of their elasticity.

Mosses are often so diminutive in size, and
so unpretending in colour, as to escape the
notice of any but an educated eye; but,
when examined by the aid of the microscope,
display such exquisite symmetry and beauty
of forms, as to call forth the admiration and
delight of the beholder—delight not in the
outward senses only, for, as good old Gerarde
truly said, "The principal delight is in the
mind, singularly enriched with the knowledge
of these visible things, setting forth to us the
invisible wisdom and admirable workmanship
of the Almighty God."

Who has not read or heard with emotion
of the effect which the sight of a little moss
produced upon Mungo Park, the African
traveller? "When," as he himself describes
"I found myself in the midst of a vast
wilderness, naked and alone, surrounded by
savage animals, and by men still more
savage. I was five hundred miles from the
nearest European settlement; I considered
my fate as certain, and that I had no
alternative but to lie down and perish. At this
moment the extraordinary beauty of a small
moss irresistibly caught my eye; and, though
the whole plant was not larger than the top
of one of my fingers, I could not contemplate
the delicate conformation of its roots, leaves,
and capsules without admiration. Can that
Being, thought I, who planted, watered, and
brought to perfection, in this obscure part of
the world, a thing which appears of so small
importance, look with unconcern upon the
situation and sufferings of creatures formed
after His own image? Reflections like these
would not allow me to despair. I started
up, and, disregarding both hunger and fatigue,
travelled forwards, assured that relief was at
hand; and I was not disappointed." Sir
William J. Hooker, in his British Flora,
says: "The moss which engaged Mungo
Park's attention so much in Africa as to
revive his drooping spirits was the species
Dicranum bryoides, as I have ascertained by
means of original specimens given to me by
his brother-in-law, Mr. Dickson."

The story of Mungo Park and this tiny
moss, illustrates strikingly the difference
between eyes and no eyes. If Mungo Park
had not been an acute observer, the beauty
of this wee plant would have been unseen by
him, although it was close to his eyes. This
beautiful fork-moss is not so minute but that
its beauty can be perfectly seen by the naked
eye; and a bank carpeted with it in a state
of fructification (not an uncommon sight
even in our own country) is one of the
most lovely spectacles which it is possible
to behold.

Culpepper, in his British Herbal, confounds
the mosses and the lichens together; making
only a distinction between ground moss and
tree moss. He says, all sorts of mosses are
under the dominion of Saturn; and alleges
that the ground moss, being bruised, boiled
in water, and applied, easeth the pains of the
gout. The efficacy of this remedy is,
however, greatly doubted now-a-days.

There are a great variety of mosses known.
There are apple mosses; beardless, bladder,
bog, and bristle mosses; cavern, collar, cone-
fringed, cord, and cylindrical mosses; earth
and extinguisher mosses; leather, fork, four-
tooth, fringe, and frond mosses; hair mosses;
screw, split, streak, and swan-neck mosses;
thread, thyme-thread, and tree mosses; veil,