Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/253

231&#93; MOS cold ; but, if these parasitical plants be snfFered to increase too abun- dantly, they not oniy tend mate- riall)'^ to injure trees, but also to stifle the more useful vegetables of the soil. Mosses are almost constantly- green 5 have the finest verdure in autumn ; and, though kept in a dry place for a whole century, they may be revived, and their colour restored^ by immersing them in water. Dry mo<;s is the most proper substance for mattresses, and great- ly superior to strasv ; as it is not liable to be infested with mice, bugs, fleas, &c. When such couches become hard by com- pression, they may be easily raised again and rendered soft, by beat- ing them with sticks. For tiiis purpose, however, the longest ar.d softest mosses ou^ht to be collei!^ed, in September, during dry v/eather ; then cleansed from all impurities and woody roots ;. dried in the shade; and again agitated with a stick, on a hurdle. Next, the mat- tress is to be stutFed eight inches thick, a "d quilted in the usual manner. — Noris this soft substance less useful for packing glass, earthen ware, and other brittle articles, in preference to straw, or M'ood shavings. Among the numerous mosses which are subservient to economi- cal purposes, we shall at present only mention a few of the most .useful ; because others are inserted jjn their alphabetical place. 1. Foiitinalis antipyretlca, or Greater Water -moss, which grows upon rocks and roots of trees ; in tjj'ook^:, rivulets, slow streams, and ponds : it flowers from Jun* to September. — Ac- 4;ording to LiNN^aius,; .tUis species r^Ciiists the action of flic { and, if MOS [231 mixed with mortar for lining the? inside of chimnies, it renders them Jire-pronf; as, contrary to the n'a- ture of all other mosses, it is almost incombustible. — Bohmkr also re- marks, that a thatched roof, if co- vered an inch thick with the greater water- moss, will be completely se- cured against fire. 2. Bryum rurn/e, which grows on roofs, both thatched and tiled ; walls; and trunks of trees : it is pe- rennial, and flowers from De- cember to April. — ^Thatched build- ings overgrown with this moss, instead of lasting about ten years, will remain sound for a century. 3. Sphagnum palustre, or Grey BoG-Moss, which is also perennial, and flowers in July and Aug-ust. — This species materially contributes to tiie produdlion of peat or titrf-^ so ihat in process of time, bogs and morasses are converted into beau- tiful meadows ; — in Norway, it is employed for filling up the crevices of planks in wooden walls; and, though it be sometimes used for a similar purpose in tiled rocfs, yet as it affords shelter to vermin, we conceive, it might more safely and advantageously be applied behind the stones or brick-work of a ells, to prevent the clay or loam from being wasted by the action of the water. j 4. Byssus canddaris, L. (Lichen Jlavus of WiTB bring), or Yel- low Powder-wort ; an annual vegetable dust generated on old pales, the cracked bark of trees, and antique wails,, in all parts of the world : it appears from Sep- tember to June. — This powcery .substance may,. ;;aordirig.to,JBoK- MLR, be ; employed for dyeing a very liright-yeiiow coieur. 5., Lycopodium davatum. See CLu§-Mo?i?,.the Conimon. IVIOSS, jij Imliculturc, is a dis- ^ ^ ca»e