. St. Nicholas [serial] . ch theygrow, the lichens need only what they absorbfrom the atmosphere. Where that is impurethey cannot live. Certain kinds of lichens,which were before very plentiful, have entirelydisappeared from regions where collieries and The lichens most important function seemsto be to beautify the landscape, though sometiny ones are utilized by mother humming-birdto cover the outside of her nest, in order toconceal it as much as possible. In Iceland thelichen called Iceland moss is gathered everyyear by the boys and girls. It is boiled in milkand eaten. Fanny Bergen, in her l
. St. Nicholas [serial] . ch theygrow, the lichens need only what they absorbfrom the atmosphere. Where that is impurethey cannot live. Certain kinds of lichens,which were before very plentiful, have entirelydisappeared from regions where collieries and The lichens most important function seemsto be to beautify the landscape, though sometiny ones are utilized by mother humming-birdto cover the outside of her nest, in order toconceal it as much as possible. In Iceland thelichen called Iceland moss is gathered everyyear by the boys and girls. It is boiled in milkand eaten. Fanny Bergen, in her little bookon Plant Life, tells us that the Indians guidedthemselves through the trackless forests by ob-serving on which sides of the trees the lichensgrew thickest, those being the northern sides. Ruskin thus beautifully describes the part ful-filled in nature by these lowly but dainty mem-bers of the vegetable kingdom : In one sensethe humblest, in another they are the mosthonored of the earth-children. Strong in lowli-. THE STAR-LICHEN. 648 MUSHROOMS, LICHENS, AND MOULDS. ness, they neither blanch in heat nor pine in sioned rock, they share also its endurance. Far frost. To them, slow-fingered, constant-hearted, above, among the mountains, the silver lichen is intrusted the weaving of the dark, eternal spots rest star-like on the stone; and the gath- tapestries of the hills; to them, slow-penciled, ering orange stain upon the edge of yonder iris-eyed, the tender framing of their endless western peak reflects the sunsets of a thousand imagery. Sharing the stillness of the unimpas- years.
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Keywords: ., bookauthordodgemar, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookyear1873
