Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015 https://archive.org/details/b22024815 HL Twitch lifih B B Sc. R. in: “770-rs" A POPULAR HISTORY OF BRITISH SEA-WEEDS, COMPRISING THEIR STRUCTURE, FRUCTIFICATION, SPECIFIC CHARACTERS, ARRANGEMENT, AND GENERAL DISTRIBUTION, WITH NOTICES OF SOME OP THE FRESH-WATER ALG/E. BY THE REY. D. LANDSBOROUGH, A.L.S., Member of the Wernerian Society of Edinburgh, and Author of ‘Excursions to tlic Isle of Arran.” LONDON: REEVE, BENHAM, AND REEVE, KING-WILLIAM STREET, STRAND. 1849. REEVE, BEKHiM, AND REEVE, PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS OF SCIENTIFIC WORKS, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND. TO ROBERT KAYE GREVILLE, M.D., EDINBURGH, AND TO WILLIAM HENRY HARVEY, M.D., PROFESSOR OF BOTANY, DUBLIN, THIS LITTLE WORK, IN WHICH THEY HAVE KINDLY AIDED HIM, is, WITH MUCH RESPECT AND ESTEEM, DEDICATED BY THEIR GRATEFUL FRIEND, THE AUTHOR, “Not lost the time in sea-side ramble spent. Braced is the frame ; and mental health is gained ; Knowledge is gained of Him who made the deep. And blissful love acquired of nature’s works, Of which each questioned 1 minim ’ soothly says : ‘ The plastic power that formed us is divine ! ’ Launch then the skiff ; ply well the scraping dredge ! Or, if it like thee better, search the shore : Each rock-pool has its treasure, every tide Strews on the yellow sand, from Ocean’s lap. Weeds, than our flowers more fair, and fitted more, By Lady’s gentle fingering displayed, To beautify the album’s tasteful page, Thau aught that deftest pencil e’er devised Of graceful symmetry, or lovely hue : For ‘ who can paint like Nature ? ’ quoth the Bard.”- PREFACE. Though British Algology lias for several years at leisure hours been a favourite study of mine, I should have been afraid to undertake this introductory work had I not been encouraged by Dr. Greville of Edinburgh, and Professor Harvey of Dublin. The former lent me books, gave me advice, and allowed me to avail myself of his published works ; the latter gave me council, allowed me to take aid from his publications, and solved my doubts respecting plants I sent to him. In describing the Corallines I was glad to avail myself of the accurate descriptions given by my excellent friend Dr. Johnston. In the fresh-water department, I was happy to draw on my friends Mr. Ralfs and Mr. Hassall. Mrs. Griffiths, with her characteristic kindness, granted me the VI PREFACE. much-valued privilege of consulting her respecting marine Algae; and was ready at all times to favour me with specimens. The preliminary chapters, extending to a greater length than I anticipated, will not, I trust, be regarded as altogether uninteresting. In the body of the work, I can safely recom- mend the description of genera, being chiefly taken from the valuable works of Dr. Greville and Professor Plarvey. The plates are by Mr. Pitch, whose talents in this depart- ment are too well known to need praise from me. The plates add greatly to the value of the work, by making verbal descriptions much more easily understood : — “ Segnius irritant animos demissa per aurem, Quam quse sunt ocnlis subjccta fidelibus.” Though the work is intended for beginners, I shall venture to hope that some portions of it may not be quite devoid of interest to proficients in science. The savans of the south may not disdain to listen even to a sciolist of the north-west, when, without pretension, he records his own observations. PREFACE. Vll British Algology is making as rapid progress as any other branch of natural science. Many of those persons who spend a month or two in summer on the sea-coast, have discovered that there is great beauty in sea-weeds, and have found that there is great pleasure in preparing little collections of these marine paintings, to gratify their inland friends on their return, and to afford to themselves pleasant reminis- cences of happy hours spent in healthful recreation on the sea-shore; and often, we trust, in devout musings on Him whose path is in the deep waters ; whose hand has formed all the wonderful works they contain, and whose voice may be heard in the gentlest whisperings of the waves, or in the mighty noise of the great sea-billows. The gentleness of Heaven is on the Sea : Listen ! the mighty Being is awake, And doth with his eternal motion make A sound like thunder — everlastingly. — Wordsworth. Rockvale, Saltcoats, May, 1849. •- ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SPECIES. Marine Algce. Page Alaria esculenta (Plate I. fig. 4) 111 Axtlirocladia villosa 125 Asperococcus compressus (Plate Y. fig. 18) 136 echinatus 138 Turneri (Plate II. fig. 7) 137 Bangia fusco-purpurea .... 309 Bonnemaisonia asparagoides (Plate XII. fig. 45) 251 Bostrichia scorpioides (Plate XI. fig. 41) 273 Bryopsis hypnoides 295 plumosa (Plate XVI. fig. 64) 294 Page Callitbamnion affine 170 arbuscula 164 barbatum 168 Brodiaei 165 byssoideum 169 corymbosum (Plate VI. fig. 23) 172 cruciatum 164 Daviesii 175 floccosum (Pl.VI. f. 22) 167 floriduliun 173 • gracillimum (Plate VI. fig. 21) 170 Harveyaniun 169 Hookeri 165 pedicellatum 173 X INDEX. Page Callithamnion pluma 167 plumula 163 polyspermum 169 roseum (Plate YII. fig. 26) 166 Rothii 171 spai'sum 175 spongiosum 172 tetragonum 168 tetricum (Plate YII. fig. 25) 166 tliuyoideum 171 tripinnatum 176 Turneri 167 Calotlirix confervicola .... 316 Carpomitra Cabrerac 124 Catenella opuntia (Plate X. fig. 39) 234 Oeramium acantbonotum (Plate X. fig. 38) 187 botryocarpum 190 ciliatum 186 Deslongchampsii .... 189 diaplianum (Plate YII. fig. 27) 186 ccliionotum 187 Page Cblorosiphon fastigiatum 189 gracillimum 188 nodosum ib . rubrum (Plate YIII. fig. 29) 185 Laminariae 139 pusillus ib- Chondrus crispus (Plate IX. fig. 33) 208 Norvegicus 209 Chorda filum (Plate III. fig. 9) 140 lomentaria 142 Chordaria divaricata 160 flagelliformis 159 Chi'ysimenia clavellosa (Plate XIV. fig. 56) 257 Chylocladia articulata (Plate XIY. fig. 53) 260 r kaliformis (Plate XY. fig. 57) 258 ovalis ib- parvula 259 reflexa ib. Cladophora arcta (Plate XVII. fig. 66) 300 INDEX. XI Page Cladopliora gracilis 301 Hutckinsias id. Isete virens id. lanosa (Plate XYII. fig. 65) 299 pellucida id. rectangularis (Plate XVII. fig. 68) 298 refracta 302 rupestris (Plate XVII. fig. 67) 298 Cladosteplius spongiosus . . 143 verticillatus (Plate IV. fig. 14) id. Codium adlnerens 292 ampiiibium id. ■ bursa id. tomentosum (Plate XVI. fig. 63) 293 Conferva serea 303 linum 304 melagonium (Plate XVIII. fig. 70) 303 tortuosa (Plate XVIII. fig. 69) id. Corallina elongata 262 Page Corallina officinalis (Plate XIV. fig. 54) 261 squamata 262 Crouania attenuata ....... 194 Cruoria pellita 202 Cutleria multifida (Plate II. fig. 6) 126 Cystoseira ericoides 99 Dasya arbuscula 290 coccinea 288 ocellata 290 venusta id. Delesseria alata 242 angustissima 243 bypoglossum 244 ruscifolia (Plate XIII. fig. 49) 245 sanguiuea (Plate XIII. fig. 50) 237 sinuosa 241 Desmarestia aculeata 122 ligulata (Plate I. fig. 3) 120 viridis ] 21 Diatoma marinum 319 Dictyosiphon fasniculaceus . 133 Xll INDEX. Page Dictyota atomaria 131 dicliotoma (PI. II. fig. 5) ib. Dumontia filiformis (Plate X. fig. 40) 216 divaricata ib. Ectocarpus brachiatus .... 152 crinitus 150 distortus ib- fasciculatus 149 granulosus 151 Hinckske 149 Landsburgii. ....... 150 littoralis 148 Mertensii 152 pusillus 150 siliculosus (PI. V. fig. 19) 149 sphaerophorus 151 tomentosus 149 Elachistea attenuata 156 curta ib. flaccida . fucicola . scutulata stellulata ib. 155 156 ib. Page Elachistea velutina ib. Enteromorpha compressa (Plate XVI. fig. 62) 311 erecta (Plate XVIII. fig. 71) 312 intestinalis (Plate XVIII. fig. 72) 310 Exilaria fulgens 319 Eucus canaliculatus 108 ceranioides 105 Mackaii 108 nodosus ib- Eucus serratus (Plate I. fig. 1) 106 vesiculosus 104 Eurcellaria fastigiata 207 Gelidium cartilagineum ... 220 corneum ib. Gigartina acicularis (Plate XI. fig. 42) 218 mamillosa 219 pistillata 217 Teedii 219 Ginnania furcellata 215 Gloiosiphouia capillaris ... 197 purpurea 200 INDEX. X1U Page Gracilaria compressa 226 confervoides (Plate XI. fig. 44) 225 erecta 224 multipartita 227 Grateloupia filicina 221 Griffitbsia barbata 181 corallina ib. Devoniensis 180 equisetifolia 179 secundiflora 183 setacea ib. simplicifilum 180 Gymnogongrus Gritfithsiae . 208 plicatus 207 Halidrys siliquosa (Plate! fig. 2) 100 Halymenia bgulata (Plate XIII. fig. 52) 214 Halyseris polypodioides (Plate III. fig. 10) 127 Hildenbrandtia rubra 212 Himanthalia lorea (Plate IV. fig. 13) 109 Hypnea purpurascens (Plate X. fig. 37) 223 Page Iridsea edulis (Plate IX. fig. 35) 203 Isthmia obliquata 318 Jania rubens 263 Kalymenia Dubyi 213 reniformis ib. Laminaria bulbosa 116 digitata 112 fascia 119 pbylbtis (Plate XIX. fig. 76) ib. saccharina 118 Laurencia dasyphylla 255 hybrida ib. obtusa ib. Laurencia pinnatifida (Plate XIV. fig. 58) 254 tenuissima 256 Leathesia Berkeleyi 157 tuberiformis ib. Lichina confinis 96 pygmsea ib. Licmopliora flabellata .... 320 splendida ib. Lyngbya Carmichaelii .... 317 Mesogloia Griffithaiana .... 159 XIV INDEX. Page Mesogloia vermicularis .... 158 vircscens (Plate Y. fig. 20) ib. Melobesia agariciformis ... 266 fasciculata 267 polymorplia 264 Microcladia glandulosa (Plate VIII. fig. 32) 191 Myrionema clavatum 155 Leclancfierii ib. punctiforme ib. strangulans 154 Myriotricliia clavseformis (PlateIII.fig.il) 153 filiformis ib. Naccaria Wigglui 201 Nemalion multifidum 197 Nitopliyllum Bonnemaisoni 249 Gmelini ib. Hillise ib. laceratum 248 pimctatum (Plate XIII. fig. 51) 246 versicolor 250 Odonthalia dentata 269 Padina pavonia (PI. XIX. f. 2) 129 Page Padinella parvula 130 Peyssonelia Dabyi 212 Phyllophora Brodisei 210 rubens (PI. IX. fig. 34) ib. Plocamium coccineiun (Plate XII. fig. 46) 235 Polyides rotundas 206 Polysipbonia atro-rubescens 279 Brodisei (PI. XY. fig. 60) 281 byssoides 287 — — elongata 285 elongella (Plate XIY. fig. 55) 286 fastigiata 280 fibrata 283 fibrillosa 282 formosa 285 Polysiphonia furcellata .... 280 nigrescens 279 parasitica (Plate XII. fig. 47) 276 pulvinata 284 Bicbardsoni 281 spinulosa 279 INDEX, XV Page Polysiphonia subulifera .... 278 ■ urceolata 284 violacea 283 Porphyra laciniata (Plate XIX. fig. 75) 305 vulgaris 307 Ptilota plumosa (Plate VIII. fig. 30) 192 sericea (PL VII. fig. 28) ib. Punctaria latifofia (Plate IV. fig. 6) 134 plantaginea 135 tenuissima ib. Pycnophycus tuberculatus. . 103 Ralfsia deusta 157 Rliizoclo ilium riparium .... 302 Rhodomela lycopodioides . . 271 subfusca ib. Rhodymenia bifida 229 ciliata 231 cristata. ib. jubata (PI. XI. fig. 43) ib. laciniata (PI. IX. fig. 36) 229 Page Rhodymenia membranifolia . 231 palmata 232 palmetta 230 Rivularia atra 316 Rytiphlsea complanata .... 274 fruticulosa 275 pinnastroides 274 thuyoides (Plate XV. fig. 59) 275 Sargassum bacciferum (Plate III. fig. 12) 92 vulgare ib. Scbizonema helminthosum . 322 obtusum ib. Seirospora Griffithsiana (Plate VI. fig. 24) 176 Sphacelaria cirrhosa 147 filicina 144 fusca 147 olivacea ib. plumosa 146 racemosa 147 radicans ib. scoparia (PI. IV. fig. 15) 145 sertularia ib. XVI INDEX. Page Spbserococcus coronopifolius (Plate XII. f. 48) 227 Sporoclinus pedunculatus (Plate Y. f. 17) 123 Spyridia filamentosa 184 Stilopbora Lyngbysei 133 rliizodes 132 Striaria attenuata (Plate II. f. 8) 134 Page t Striatella arcuata .. 318 ■ Ulva lactuca 3141 latissima (Plate XIX. fig. 73) 313 linza (Plate XVI. fig. 61) 314; Yaucberia submarina 296 Wrangelia multifida 178' Fresli-Water Algae. Page Batvacbospermum atrum . . 335 momliforme (Plate XX. fig. 77) 334 Cladopbora glomerata (Plate XX. fig. 78) 328 Draparnaldia elongata 341 glomerata 339 nana (Plate XX. fig. 79) 340 Page Hyalatbeca dissibens 348' Microsterias deuticulata (Plate XX. fig. 80) 3471 Oscillatoria limosa . . mucosa tbermabs Yaucberia dicbotoma Zyguema quinmum . . 336 33S' lb. 333 3441 LIST OF Plate I. Fig. Page 1 Fticus serratus 106 2 Halidrys siliquosa 100 3 Desmarestia ligulata 120 4 Alaria esculenta Ill Plate II. 5 Dictyota dichotoma 131 6 Cutleria multifida 126 7 Asperococcus Turneri. ... 137 8 Striaria attenuata 134 Plate III. 9 Chorda fUum 140 10 Halyseris polypodioides . . 127 11 Myriotrichia clavseformis. . 153 12 Sargassum baeciferum ... 92 LATFS. Plate IV. Page Himantlialia lorea 109 Cladostephus verticillatus 143 Sphacelaria scoparia 145 Punctaria latifolia 134 Plate V. Spovochnus pedunculatus . 123 Asperococcus compressus . 136 Ectocarpus silicidosus .... 149 Mesogloia virescens 158 Plate VI. Callithamnion gracillimum 170 floccosum 167 • corymbosum 172 Seirospora Griffithsiana . . 176 P Fig. 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 xvm LIST OF PLATES. Plate VII. Fig. 25 Callithamnion tetricum . . . 26 roseum 27 Ceramium diaplianum. . . . 28 Ptilota sericea Plate VIII. 29 Ceramium rubrum 30 Ptilota plumosa 3 1 Cliylocladia kalifovmis . . . 32 Microcladia glandulosa . . . Plate IX. 33 Chondrus crispus 34 Phyllopliora rubens 35 Iridma edulis 36 Khodymenia laciniata .... Plate X. 37 Hypnea purpurascens .... 38 Ceramium acanthonotum. . 39 Catenella opuntia 40 Dumontia filiformis Plate XI. 41 Bostricbia scorpioides .... 42 Gigartina acicularis 43 Bliodymcnia jubata 44 Gracilaria confervoides . . . Plate XII. Fig. Page 45 Bonnemaisonia asparagoides 251 46 Plocamium coccineum .... 235 47 Polysipliouia parasitica . . . 276 48 Sphairococcus coronopifolius 227 Plate XIII. 49 Delesseria ruscifolia 245 50 sanguinea 237 51 Nitopbyllum punctatum . . 246 52 Halymenia ligulata 214 Plate XIV. 53 Cliylocladia articulata .... 260 54 Corallina officinabs 261 5 5 Polysipliouia elongella. . . . 2S6 5 6 Clirysimenia clavellosa. . . . 257 Plate XV. 57 Cliylocladia kalifomis. . . . 258 58 Lauren ci a pinnatifida . . . . 254 59 Ilytiplilsea thuyoides 275 60 Polysipbonia Brodisei . . . . 281 Plate XVI. 61 Ulva Linza 313 62 Enteromorplia compressa . 311 63 Codium tomentosum . . . . 293 64 Bryopsis plumosa 294 Page 166 ib. 186 192 185 192 258 191 208 210 203 229 223 187 204 216 273 218 231 225 LrST OP PLATES. XIX Plate XVI L Fig. Page 65 Cladopliora lanosa 299 60 arcta 300 67 rupestris 298 68 rectangularis ib. Plate XVIII. 69 Conferva tortuosa 303 70 melagoninm ib. 71 Enteromorpha erecta 312 72 intestinalis 310 Plate XIX. FiS- Page 73 Ulva latissima 313 74 Padina pavonia 129 75 Porphyra laciniata 305 76 Laminaria phyllitis 119 Plate XX. 77 Batrachosperm. moniliforme 334 78 Cladopliora glomerata .... 328 79 Draparnaldia nana 340 80 Microsterias denticulata . . 347 PLATES OP FRUCTIFICATION ( Figures more or si. — Polysiphonia urceolata. Fig. 1. Portion of a branch. 2. Capsule more highly magnified. -#• — Polysiphonia urceolata. Fig. 1. Portion of a branchlet, showing granular fruit (tetraspores). 2. Tetrasporc, higlily magnified. C. — Ptilota plumosa. Fig. 1. Involucre containing favclhe. 2. Lacinia with tetraspores on short pedicels. less magnified.) — Plocamium coccineum. Fig. 1 . Branchlet with a lateral tubercle containing spores. 2. Branchlet with sticliidia con- taining tetraspores. E- — Odonthalia dentata. Fig. 1. Capsular fruit. 2. Sticliidia, containing tetraspores. . (Observed in abundance in early winter.) XX PLATES OF FRUCTIFICATION . F. — Rhodomenia bifida. Fig. 1. Portion of frond with imbedded tubercles (coccidia), containing spores. Nitoplryllum punctatum. Fig. 2. Portion of frond exhibiting one of the sori, consisting of an assemblage of tetraspores. G. — Callitbamnion Bovreri. Fig. 1. Branch with capsular fruit. 2. Brancblet with a bilobed favella. H. — PhjUopliora rubens. Fig. 1. Wart, with one leaf removed to show the nemathecia. 2. Moniliform filaments, composing the nemathecium. INTRODUCTION. The time is not very far gone past, when a book on the study of Sea-weeds, would have been the very reverse of popular in any case. About fifty years ago, in some aca- demic chairs, they were treated with disdain. We have heard of a student about that period who, having collected some beautiful Alga: on the shore, shewed the contents of Ids vasculum to the Professor of Botany whose lectures he attended, expressing a wish to get some information respecting them. The Professor looked at them, and putting on Ins spectacles, again looked at them, when pushing them from him, he exclaimed: “Pooh! a parcel of Sea&- weeds, Sir; a parcel of Sea-weeds ! " The Newhaven fisher- men seem to have caught the spirit of this learned Pro- essor, for to tins day do they denominate all the finer Sea-weeds, chaff. They are weeds , and what are weeds ? r. Johnson, the famous lexicographer, tells us that they are plants that are noxious and useless. Oh, but they are sea- 2 INTRODUCTION. weeds, we say in mitigation. And does tliat mend the matter ? Horace and Virgil knew that right well, and as with all their poetic genius they knew not a word of English, they gave them the outlandish name of Alga, : — nay more, Horace speaks of them, as “ inutilis Alga, useless Sea- weeds ! And tasteful Virgil goes even beyond his friend Horace, for when speaking of something which he regards as worthless and filthy, he says that it is “ Alga projecta vilior,” viler than the Sea-weed cast out on the shore. Its very calamities are turned against it : “ Refunditur Alga / says another poet, the sea loathes it and flings it out on the land ! — Alas ! for the poor Sea-weeds, when the Princes of Poetry in the Augustan age are against them ! But as there were no Sea-weeds m the streets of Pome, or in the yellow Tiber, they may have spoken thoughtlessly, and without any malice prepense, and we would therefore appeal from the ancient court of the Muses, and consider what character they sustain in the present day. In Scotland, Sea-weeds go very generally under the name of wrack, or in the south and west of Scotland wreck, and not unfrequently wreck ; and in this we have one of the numberless instances of the effect which the great inter- course in ancient times betwixt Prance and Scotland had INTRODUCTION. 3 on our Scottish language ; — for what is wrack or wreck or week, but the French word varec, which signifies sea-weed. V raic is the word employed in the Channel Islands, in Guernsey and Jersey, and is evidently of French ex- traction ; and they who read Inglis on the Channel Islands wdl find that vraic is not a thing to be spoken of con- temptuously ! But more of this anon. In the list of names we may mention that they often go under the name of sea-ware-, hence we have kelp-ware-, and even hen-ware, and honey-ware. Among the learned, Plantce marines, marine plants, is often employed, but this term is too comprehensive, for it would include Zoster* marina, sea-ribbon, which is a flowering plant. Thalassio- phytes, a still more learned name has often been given them, derived from two Greek words signifying sea-plants. As many of them at one time were ranged under the Linnseau genus Fucus, wc have learned volumes descriptive of numerous genera and species then included in that com- prehensive genus. Fucus is the Latin form of a Greek name given to sea-weeds, and as the word signifies paint, it may have been applied to them because of the fine colour which some of them yield. 4 CHAPTER I. HISTORY OT ALGIE. Non ego te meis Chartis inomatum silebo, Totve tuos patiar labores Impune carpere lividas Obliviones. — Horace. We shall mention very briefly some of those authors whose works have greatly helped to promote this department of botanical science, and with one exception we shall confine ourselves to writers of our own country. The justly cele- brated Linnaeus is the exception. His attention was chiefly directed to pheenogamous or flowering plants. His situation at a distance from the sea was not favourable for the in- vestigation of Marine Algae; his Herbarium contained com- paratively few species; his division of this order of plants was a simple one, for he ranked all aquatic Algae, whether from the sea or from fresh-water, under four great genera, Tremella, Fucus, Ulva, and Conferva . In our own country we can boast of Ray, that great and good man, whose works were of so much service in almost every branch HISTOKY OP ALG.P. 5 of science, ancl who enumerated a good many Algrn in his Synopsis. Dillenius deserves to be mentioned whose figures of many of the Conferva are good. Hudson is worthy of much praise, and I have a regard for him because Iris Flora Anglica, which is remarkable for its accuracy, was the first botanical work I ever saw, with the exception of Lee's Introduction. One of the next I fell in with was Liglitfoot's Flora Scotica, a very interesting book, and the more valuable as many of the species he describes were gathered and figured by himself. Stackhouse's Nereis Britannica, which appeared in numbers at the end of the last, and beginning of the present century, though now rather rare, is a work of considerable merit. For this and other valuable botanical works, I have been indebted to Hr. Kobert Kaye Greville. The publication of Dr. Greville's own works at a later period, formed an era in the history of Marine Botany. They are exceedingly good, and have been highly lauded by all subsequent writers on this department of Science. His descriptions are admirable, and his exquisite plates in his Alga Britannica, his Scottish Cryptog antic Flora, and his other publications, were well fitted to lay the foundation of his recently acquired fame as a first-rate landscape painter. Previous however to the publication of Dr. Greville's 6 INTRODUCTION. works, there were other publications that ought not to be passed over ; an excellent account of the method of Dr. Walker, the well-known Professor of Natural History in the University of Edinburgh, is given by my worthy, kind-hearted friend Dr. Patrick Neill, in his very able article, in the Edinburgh Encyclopsedia, on Fuci, which has received the most unquestionable praise by being largely quoted by all subsequent writers on the subject, to which as a rich quarry I have already had recourse, and to which I am sure the author will make me welcome again and again to return. Of another voluminous work at present lying before me, it would not be easy to speak in terms of too high approval, we mean Mr. Dawson Turner's Historia Fucorum, illustrated by coloured engravings chiefly by Mr. (now Sir W illiam) Jackson Hooker, who has by his pencil and by his pen not only sustained, but greatly increased his fame thus early acquired. Respecting the descriptions and the illustrations, Sir James Edward Smith remarks, “ never was there a more perfect combination of the skill of the painter and the botanist, than in this work." Nor must Miss Hutchins be omitted, whose name will long be honoured by Algologists. Mr. Dawson Turner, who was so well able to appreciate her worth, pays a beautiful and HISTORY OF ALG/E. 7 tender tribute to her memory. “ But few, if any besides myself, can appreciate her many amiable qualities ; her liberality, her pleasure in communicating knowledge, her delight in being useful, the rapture she felt in tracing the works of the Divine Hand, and the union in her of those virtues which embellish and improve mankind. Three years have now elapsed since she died, and every succeeding year makes me feel more deeply what I have lost, and how with her is gone a great part of the pleasure I derived from these pursuits. “ In every season of the beauteous year Her eye was open, and with studious love Read the Divine Creator in his works. Chiefly in thee, sweet spring, when every nook Some latent beauty to her wakeful search Presented, some sweet flower, some virtual plant. In every native of the hill and vale, She found attraction, and, when beauty fail’d, Applauded odour or commended use. “ Heu 1 quanto minus est Cum reliquis vcrsari Ctuam tui memiuisse ! ” * Mr. Dillwyn’s History of British Confervas cannot but be prized by all who are acquainted with it, as it has so much to recommend it, both in the plates and descriptions. * Prom Mr. D. Turner’s Historia Fucorum. 8 INTRODUCTION. Great also were tire services rendered to Algology by the late Captain Carmichael of Appin, the value of whose MSS. has been amply acknowledged by Sir W. Jackson Hooker into whose possession they came. There are several others deserving of great praise, that we are constrained to pass over ; but there are two whom it would be altogether unjustifiable to omit in this limited list. The one is a lady who, so far as we know, has published nothing in her own name, — but who yet may be said to have published much, as she has so often been consulted by distinguished naturalists who have been proud to acknowledge the benefit they have derived from her scientific eye and sound judgment. We mean Mrs. Griffiths of Torquay of whom we may speak as facile Regina, the willingly acknowledged Queen of Algologists. The other to whom I refer is Professor W. H. Harvey of Dublin, who is so well known by his works and to us, best, by his excellent Manual of British Algae, which since its publication has been our favourite vade-mecum, till it has in some measure been supplanted by a still greater favourite, his splendid Rhycologia Britannica, in progress of publi- cation, and which comes to us as a monthly feast with its accurate descriptions and magnificent illustrations. 9 CHAPTER II. STRUCTURE AND SUBSTANCE. He that enlarges his curiosity after the works of Nature, demonstrably multiplies the inlets to happiness ; and therefore, the younger part of my readers, to whom I dedicate this vernal speculation, must excuse me for calling upon them to make use at once of the spring of the year and the spring of life, and to acquire while their minds may be impressed with new images, a love of innocent pleasures, and an ardour for useful knowledge ; and to remember that a blighted spring makes a barren year, and that the vernal flowers, however beautiful and gay, are only intended by Nature as preparatives to autumnal fruits. — Dr. Johnson. Alg/E form part of that great class to which Linnaeus has given the name of Cryptogamia, because they are flower- less; but like ferns ancl mosses, and other plants of the same great class, they have what answers the purpose of flowers. The portion of Algae of which we mean more particularly to treat, are called Sea-weeds, and, as their name implies, either grow in the sea, or in places where they are, occasionally at least, covered by the tide, washed by the waves, or moistened by the spray. Though very different from each other, in form, colour, and general appearance, they are all similar in so far as they are com- 1U INTRODUCTION. posed of cellular tissue. They have not continuous vessels like the phsenogamous plants, but consist of cells differently arranged, or of gelatine, membrane, and endochrome. They have no woody fibre, though there is certainly the approach to it in appearance, as in the stems of the great Tangle. Lamouroux indeed thinks that the stem of Laminaria cligitata is formed of four distinct parts, analogous in situation, size, and organization to the epidermis, bark, wood and pith of dicotyledonous plants. That mariue Algae are not furnished with continuous vessels like land plants, is obvious from the well-known fact, that if one part of a sea plant is plunged in water, and the remainder is exposed to the air, only what is in the water remains fresh, the rest withers and becomes dry. And in the same manner if a dried specimen of Sea-weed is in part immersed in water, while the part that is immersed becomes filled with the fluid and assumes a fresh appearance, the part that is not in the water, remains dry as before. Th g fronds of Alga; are not only variable in form but also in substance. Some are like masses of Jelly, such as the fresh- water Batrachospermum and Draparnaldia ; others are very gelatinous, such as the marine Mesogloia ; others are like silk threads, others are so filmy and membranaceous that by STUTJCTUKE AND SUBSTANCE. 11 children they are called Sea-silk ; others are cartilaginous as gristle and elastic as indian-rubber, a quality which I parti- cularly observed in a Micromega that I found in Arran ; some are tough as leather, others firm as wood. The leaves of some are delicate and transparent, while those of others are thick and opake ; some are finely veined, others are without nerves ; some of the filamentous kinds have joints and longitudinal siphons ; some are destitute of both. The Diatomaceae, both fresh-water and marine, have an organized covering of flint which withstands the action of fire, so that they are found abundantly in a fossil state in the sub- stance called Bergmeal or mountain-meal, extensive strata of which occur on the continent ; and the microscope detects them also in a portion of Bergmeal in my possession from a stratum of it lately discovered in Basay, one of the islands of the Hebrides. No part of the structure of Sea- weeds has more univer- sally attracted attention, than the inflated portions of the stem or frond resembling bladders. These are seen in many native species, and they are very conspicuous in Fucus vesi- culosus and Fucus nodosus. They are called vesicles, and sometimes air vessels : those on F. nodosus are very remark- able and escape not the attention of children, who value 12 INTRODUCTION. them the more, because they enable them to play off a practical joke on their inland friends who visit the shore, and whom they delight to startle by the explosion which the heated air occasions, when the vesicles are cast into the fire. It is generally supposed that the vesicles are intended to give buoyancy to sea-plants, and the wisdom of God is beautifully manifested in making them at once useful and ornamental. It has been stated that the plants that are furnished with them, cease to float when the vesicles are cut off. Mr. Darwin, that remarkably scientific observer and sound reasoner, mentions, in his most interesting Journal of the Voyages of the Beagle, some Algse that grow on the rocks in the Arctic Seas, which though of pro- digious length, instead of being spread along the bottom, as otherwise they would be, are in part floated on the surface by means of the numerous air-vessels they contain. A por- tion of one of these gigantic sea-plants, said to be at times 1,500 feet in length, is now in my possession. A section of it is so full of vesicles that it looks like a honey-comb, or like a piece of wood perforated by that indefatigable borer, Xylophaga dorsalis. 13 CHAPTER III. COLOUR. Not a flower But skews some touck in freckle, streak, or stain, Of His unrivalled pencil. He inspires Tkeir balmy odours, and imparts tkeir kues, And batkes tkeir eyes witk nectar, and includes In grains as countless as tke sea-side sands Tke forms, witk wkick He sprinkles all tke eartk. Happy wko walks witk Him ! Whom wliat ke finds Of flavour, or of scent in fruit or flower, Or wkat ke views of beautiful or grand In Nature — from tke broad majestic oak To the green blade that twinkles in tke sun. Prompts with remembrance of a present God. His presence, who made all so fair, perceived Makes all still fairer. — Cowper. The goodness of God is remarkably manifest in the variety of sweet and beautiful colours which he has imparted to his works. This is observable in the prismatic colours of the covenant-bow, in the purple streakings of the sky, in the orient tints of the morning, and in the splendid drapery of evening clouds, when the sun seems retiring to his slumbers in the west. It is seen also in the green pastures, 14 INTRODUCTION. in the rosy flowers, in the verdant foliage of the groves in spring, and in the rich and mellow colouring of the woods in autumn. The Almighty, no doubt, could have preserved us in life, though all nature had worn a dull monotonous aspect. But mark the surpassing kindness of Him, “ Who not content With every food of life to nourish man. Hath made all Nature beauty to his eye, And music to his ear.” “The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein ; ” and as if to encourage us to seek them out, and to trace Him, whose way is in the sea, and whose path is in the great waters, and whose foot- steps are but little known. He shows us by the lovely colouring which He imparts to the denizens of the deep, that even the deep feels his benignant presence ; — that if we could take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, there would his hand lead us and his right hand hold us, and the tiniest plant that grows in the abyss would say to him, who in humility seeks it out : “ Behold the wonders of thy God.” To speak after the manner of men, the Most High seems so set on recommending to our notice the plants of the sen COLOUR. 15 by their great beauty, that lie issues, so to speak, a new law of nature. Looking at land-plants, we would say that it is a law of nature (that is, the appointment of God), that the full light of the sun is necessary to bring forth their beau- tiful tints. Shut out almost all the light of the sun from a rose-bud coming into flower, and if it expand at all, how pale and sickly does it look, — “ Like saddest portrait painted after death.” Exclude altogether the enlivening sun-beams from plants of the sweetest verdure, and they become quite blanched, as if white robes were with them, as among some nations, the weeds of woe. How different is the case with marine plants ! Humboldt mentions a Fucus of a fine grass-green colour, brought up from the great depth of 192 feet where it had vegetated, though the light that reached it at that depth could have been equal only to half the light of an ordinary candle; and according to his own experiments, common garden-cresses exposed during vegetation to the brilliant light of two Argancl lamps acquired only a slight tint of green. Sea-plants of a red colour, it is well known, acquire their richest red in the deepest water ; and at depths to which, it is known, the rays of the sun do not reach, there are many species of Algse of different hues, as fully 16 INTRODUCTION. coloured as those that come under the full influence of solar light. Thus in a way that we cannot explain does the Lord work wonders in the deep, adorning his handiworks. “ For not to use alone did Providence Abound, but large example give to man Of grace, and ornament, and splendour rich, Suited abundantly to every taste. In bird, beast, fish, winged and creeping thing, In herb and flower.” The prevailing colours that sea-weeds exhibit are green, olive, and red, in all their variety of shades. Those of a green- colour generally grow in shallow water, the olive in deeper, and the red in deeper still; but there are many exceptions, for while the darkest olive plants are at times found in very deep water, I have seen in shallow pools Sphaoelaria plumosa, for instance, of the darkest olive that 1 have ever observed in any Alga in a fresh state. And while plants of the richest red or purple are at times brought up from depths profound, Bangia fusco-purpurea becomes of the richest dark purple on rocks facing the sun, and but a little within high-water mark. Brownish -olive and greenish- olive coloured plants are generally found about half-tide level. Those again that in deep water are red or purple, COLOUR. 17 such as Ceramium rubrum and Laurencia pinnatijida, lose their fine colour when growing near high-tide mark, the former becoming a dirty white or yellow, and the latter a kind of olive green. The same may be said of Chondrus crispus, which is purple in deep water, and green when growing in shallow pools. I have often observed the iridescence of this plant. This iridescence, I understand, is still more remarkable in Cystoseira ericoules, but it is rarely found on our western shores. Having spoken of the laws of nature, allow me to remind my young friends of the great danger of putting Nature in the place of God, and of forgetting that the God of nature is also the God of grace. It would not avail us that we admired his manifold works of nature, if we were not in- terested in the greatest and most wonderful of all his works — the work of Eedemption through his Son, Jesus Christ. “ The Lord of all, Himself through all diffused, Sustains, and is the life of all that lives. Nature is but a name for an effect, Whose cause is God. He feeds the sacred fire By which the mighty process is maintained, Who sleeps not, — is not weary ; in whose designs No flaw deforms, no difficulty thwarts, And whose beneficence no change exhausts.” C 18 CHAPTER IV. VEGETATION OE SEA-WEEDS. Acquaint thyself with Nature. Nature’s Gocl Exclude not from his works. Know and adore, Yea, love Him as a Father; — with Him walk. Then, sweet to roam and trace the tiny brook To where it hubbies from its parent fount, And mark, as it meanders through the vale. How the rath primrose smiles on sunny brae, And drooping hyacinths perfume the dell. — Sweet, too, to climb the mountain’s heath-clad brow, To cull mid cliffs, the haunt of ptarmigan, ltare alpine flowers that scorn the lowly vale. — But sweeter far to float upon the deep And gaze with wistful eye on all below, — On groves of olive tangle, intertwined With bright festoons of gayer, gentler algues, Subundane drapery, so rich and fair, That, like the pearl-diver, one is prone To cleave with downward plunge the sea-greeu wave, To grasp, and bear aloft the tempting prize, As trophy gained from mermaid’s gay parterre. — D. L. Land plants are divided into annual, biennial, and peren- nial ; and this seems to be the case also with marine plants. Many of the more tender kinds arc evidently annual, nay, VEGETATION OF SEA-WEEDS. 19 some of those that appear early in spring, have answered the purposes for which they were created, and have passed away before summer is far advanced. Others, though of a delicate fabric, are more enduring. They outlive the summer, and though they die partly down on the approach of winter, they send out, when spring returns, fresh fronds from the old stumps ; the old and the new, though con- joined, retaining a marked difference of appearance during the early part of the season. Those of a woody fabric, like the great Tangle, often bear considerable evidence of having weathered several winters. The mode of growth in Lami- naria saccharina, the sweet Tangle, and in L. digitata is very remarkable. The new growth begins at the base, and pushes the old portion before it. This strikes us as curious, and yet it should be familiar to us, for it is the way in which the nails of our fingers and toes are renewed. Very interesting information respecting the rapidity of the growth of some of the large sca-wccds is recorded in Dr. P. Neill’s article on Fuci, from which, like my prede- cessors, I am glad to borrow the facts observed in the course of the arduous undertaking of erecting a beacon on tire Carr Rock in the Frith of Forth. The observer was that highly respectable civil engineer, Mr. Stephenson, and the c 2 20 INTRODUCTION. observations were made at the request of his friend Dr. Neill, to whom specimens of the sea- weeds were transmitted. The Carr Rock is at the entrance of the Erith. It is about twenty feet broad and sixty feet long, and it is uncovered only at the lowest ebb of spring tide. When the operations were begun, it was clothed with large sea-weeds, especially with the great Tangle, Laminaria digitata, and Alaria escu- lent a or Badderlocks. In the course of 1813 the workmen succeeded in clearing and levelling a considerable portion of the foundation of the intended building, but in the beginning of November operations were necessarily aban- doned for the winter. At tlus time the rocks by pick and axe had been made quite bare ; the sea-weeds had been cut away, the roots trampled, and much of the rocks had been chiselled, so that the very stumps had been cleared away. On returning to the rock in May 1814 to resume opera- tions, it was matter of no small surprise to find the rock as completely covered with large sea-weeds as when they first landed on it, though little more than six months had elapsed since they left it quite bare. In particular, it was observed that many recently produced specimens of Alaria esculenta (Badderlocks) measured six feet in length, which is above its average length at full size, and they were furnished with VEGETATION OF SEA-WEEDS. 21 the pinnated appendages at the base which contain the seed of the plant. The specimens of common Tangle were gene- rally only about two feet in length, whereas when fully grown they may be four feet and upwards. The specimens of both these Algae were taken from that part of the rock which had been dressed with the pick and chisel, before the workmen left it in autumn, so that they had evidently grown from the seed; and indeed it wras observed that the sea- weeds had grown more luxuriantly on the recently dressed sandstone rock, than on those parts where the stumps had been only trodden down. It appears, therefore, that the seeds floating in the waves must have attached themselves to the rock after the middle of November, and must have vegetated and increased thus rapidly during a winter which many are old enough to remember was one of great severity. It is wonderful that so few have attempted the growth of sea-weeds from seed, especially as Mr. Stackhouse more than fifty years ago set the example, and shewed that it is quite practicable. The account of his experiments, were it not rather too long, I would willingly extract from his Nereis Britannica now before me. The substance of part of it is as follows : — He got wide-mouthed jars with a siphon to draw out the water without shaking it. On tin- 22 INTRODUCTION. 7 tli of September, 1796, he placed plants of Fucus canali- culatus in the jar with then’ bases downwards. On the following morning he decanted the water into a basin. He then poured a fresh quantity of sea-water on the plants, and placed the jar in a window facing the south. On the following morning the plants discharged a few yellowish grains which proved to be the actual seed of the plant ; these seeds, however, were not in contact with the water, but each enveloped with a bright mucilaginous substance, which, from being heavier than the water, made it sink and caused it to adhere to the rock. Watching these seeds he had the pleasure of seeing one of them exploding so as to agitate the water, from which he learned that some sea- weeds, when ripe, scatter their sporules by the bursting of the capsules without waiting for the decay of the frond. He next got pebbles from the sea-beach, and having drained off the greater part of the water, he poured the remainder on the pebbles and left them to dry for some time that the seeds might adhere to them. He then fastened strings to the pebbles, and alternately sank them in the jar, and drew them out and left them exposed to sun and rain, in imitation of what would have been experienced by them by ebb and flow at mid-tide mark, had they been m VEGETATION OF SEA-WEEDS. 23 their natural situation on the shore. In less than a week a thin film was discoverable on the surface of the pebbles. It gradually increased in breadth and thickness, until at last he observed buds arising from the membrane. These central shoots increased in size, but not rapidly after the first efforts ; and as he had not an opportunity of placing them in a rock-pool, owing to his being miles from the shore, he discontinued the experiments. More recently AIgse have been raised from seed by J. A. Agardh and by some naturalists in our own country, but still much remains to be done. Even young Algolo- gists might make experiments in this department. I confess that I have done little in this way myself, and the little that I have done has been conducted in such a manner as to lead to no practical results. Yet it has not been without interest, and I shall therefore mention it as an encourage- ment to my young friends, who may have more time on their hands and more dexterity. In the very end of September, 1848, D. Landsborough, Jun., had brought from the sea some rare Nudibranchs, which he put in a tumbler of sea-water and placed in a window with a south-east exposure. They lived there for several weeks, and when they began to look feeble, they were 24 INTRODUCTION. returned to the sea as a reward for their good behaviour. Before I granted manumission to the beautiful Nudi- branchs, I had observed at the bottom and on the sides of the tumbler the growth of young Algae. The first that I observed were grass-green, consisting of simple filaments without any visible joints. Many of these at the end of five months are still alive, but during the cold winter months they have not increased in size, and though they are visible by the naked eye, they are not above a line in length. There are one or two of the same size of a reddish-purple colour. There were also a number of little dense tufts of a brownish-olive colour, the crowded filaments of which were like those of Sphacelaria, but terminating in white hairs longer than the filaments, but so fine as to be invisible to the naked eye. They answered in some degree the description in Harvey’s Manual of Cliatophora Berke- leyi\ yet if the name means bristle-bearing, it would not correspond, for the fine white tippings of the filaments are too flexible and waving to be called setaceous. In the body of the water there were a few long filaments almost colourless, finer than human hair, and so limber that they bent under the weight of the almost invisible infusoria, when they rested from their sportive gambols. Then there were others that were just VEGETATION OF SEA-AVEEDS. 25 perceptible, as small dots, by the naked eye, but when seen through a pretty powerful lens they were perfectly circular and of beautiful workmanship, and not unlike some of the figures of Desviidiece. These in general were green, but a few were reddish-brown ; and last of all there were a number of very minute branched Algse, just perceptible as a faint haze by the naked eye, but when examined by a lens they were more like exceedingly diminutive specimens of Sphacelaria filicina than anything I remember, though I do not at all think that they were the young of this plant. The branches adhere closely all along to the glass, spreading in all directions from a centre though not with very uniform regularity. The more advanced branches seem to lose their pinnae towards the point ; they, and most of the others, are still alive in the tumbler which would form a studio not unworthy even of Mr. Ralfs. The difficulty with me, besides want of time, is how to remove such exceedingly minute and delicate structures so as to bring them under the field of the microscope. Much do I Avish that they were in the hands of a good microscopist, to examine them, and still more minute Vorticellce which in beautiful tufts are mingled along with them, but so small that a tuft of thirty is not perceptible, even as a haze, by the naked eye. I 26 INTRODUCTION. may mention that once a fortnight I pom- off the water and give a fresh supply from the sea * * As my object is to aid in rendering my young friends not merely Algolo- gists, but diligent observers of tbe phenomena of nature, I shall not consider myself bound to adhere rigidly to one department of nature’s works. To encourage them in their researches I may mention that a single tumbler of water will furnish a rich field for their bright young eyes. This very tumbler which shewed me the germination of Algre from seed, and which exhibited also the beautiful Vorticellce, contained numberless infusoria of many kinds, merrily dancing in all directions, and shewing that He who made them, blessed them with happiness. These auimalculites I had seen before, but in watching their sportive gyrations, I was gratified with appearances that I had nevei before observed. Perceiving what I thought a little hazy spot on the glass, I applied a lens, and found that it did not adhere to the glass, but was moving up and down. Afterwards more than a score were observed, some of them little semi-pel- lucid, and, I think, hollow balls ; — others more like broad flattened bonnets, such as are worn at tmies by carriers with an aperture for the reception of the head. The largest, however, were less than a line in diameter, and of a light gray-colour. When the tumbler was allowed to remain unmoved, they lay invisible at the bottom ; but when it was gently agitated, they mounted up like little balloons to the surface of the water, and then gradually descended. How they moved I could not tell. Tbe surface of the balls in certain lights seemed a little hirsute, but I could observe nothing like the motion of cilia. When they were all in motion, some ascending and others descending, the mystic movements of these little spheres presented a very animated spectacle. But what were my little peripatetic puff-balls ? At first I despaired of being able to tell ; but fortunately I had beside me Sir J . G. Dalyell’s recent publi- cation, and turning over its pages and plates I was delighted to find that what I had contemplated with so much interest was the progeny of Medusa, for in his plate xxi. his figures quite corrrespondcd with what I had observed. VEGETATION OF SEA-WEEDS. 27 As Sea-weeds grow,— how and whence do they obtain nourishment ? Land plants, it is known, derive nourish- ment partly by their roots from the soil, and partly from the ah’ by their leaves. There can be no doubt as to their I then tried an experiment on them which Sir John does not mention having done. I took the tumbler into a darkened apartment, and giving the glass a smart percussion, instantly my little puff-balls sent forth a veiy biilliant flash of phosphorescent light, showing me that in all likelihood they play no very secondary part in that beautiful phosphorescence of the sea, which in the wake of a vessel I had so often admired in a summer evening.— I continued to watch them in the hope of seeing them transformed into Medusa, bifida, but frost of unusual intensity for the season, set in after the middle of Octo- ber, and my Medusettes sank under it. On trying to rouse them, only one attempted to rise, and next day it had vanished,— like another creature ol greater pretension, “fleeing also as a shadow and continuing not. On con- templating the wonderful works of God even in this little world of water, one is led to exclaim in the singularly beautiful and truly eloquent words of Iledwig “ Yere magna et longe pulcherrima sunt etiam ilia, profundissima sapientia bic exstructa opera tua, Oh Jehovah! qum non nisi bene armatis nostris oculis patent ! Qualia autem erunt denique ilia, qute sublato hoc speeulo, remota mortalitatis caligine, daturas es tuis, Te vere sincero pectore colen- tibus ! Eheu qualia ! ” “Truly great and transcendantly beautiful, Oh Jehovah! are these thy works even here below. Framed they are in profound wisdom, disclosing all their charms only to our lens-aided eyes ! ITow grand then will those be which — when this glass has been removed in which we sec darkly — when this mist of mortality has been scattered — Thou art pledged to reveal here- after to thy servants, that have worshipped Thee here in sincerity and truth ! Ah me ! how grand ! ” 28 INTRODUCTION. being nourished by their roots, for manure applied to the roots soon tells upon the plants ; and they extend far in search of nourishment. Many think, however, that sea- plants derive all then nourishment from the water, or the air when exposed to it, by means of their general surface, and that the roots are scarcely of any use except to attach them to the rock or other substance on which they grow. In con- firmation of this opinion they mention that Sargassum bacciferum or Gulf-weed, which floats in such mighty masses in some seas, not only seems to grow in this floating state, but that this floating species of Sargassum has never been found attached by roots. It may nevertheless yet be found in a young state attached by roots, though it may still be true that it can grow in tins floating state. Take a branch of Gladophora glomerata from a plant adhering by roots to a stone in fresh-water, and place the branch in a vase of fresh-water, and it will grow and increase considerably. Though a land-plant suspended in the air without getting nourishment by the roots would soon wither, yet you know that some of the Epidendra, air-plants as they are called, are exceptions from this, for if they are hung up in a room they will grow for years, though they get no nourishment except what they derive from the air by their surface. Me VEGETATION OF SEA-WEEDS. 29 doubt not, then, that in some instances, such as the floating Sargassum, sea-plants grow without deriving any nourish- ment by roots, but we are disposed to regard such cases as exceptions from the general rule. We cannot persuade ourselves that they draw no nourishment from the sub- stances to which they are attached. They shew a decided preference for certain kinds of rocks and Algae, and their growth is more luxuriant when they are found on those they prefer. Limestone seems a great favourite with some, and the abundance of limestone rock on many parts of the Irish coast, is probably one reason why many of the Irish specimens put to shame the English and Scottish dwarfs of the same species. It is well known also that there are several species that grow both on rocks and on large Algae, and it is as well known that, in the same habitat, those growing on rocks and those on Algae differ considerably in appearance, and this seems to be owing to different nourish- ment by roots, as other circumstances are the same. 30 CHAPTER V. FRUCTIFICATION OF SEA-WEEDS. Dices * * * quod temporis et studii in earn impendendi jacturam coni- penset ? Kespondeo, Voluptas ilia et delectatio innocens et houesta qua; ex opei'um Dei contemplatione oritur. Rains. Tliy dcsii'e which tends to know The works of God, thereby to glorify The great Work-master, leads to no excess That reaches blame, but rather merits praise, The more it seems excess ; * * * For wonderful, indeed, are all his works, Pleasant to know, and worthiest to be all Had in remembrance always with delight. — Wilton. When Dr. Patrick Neill wrote his excellent article on Fuci about twenty years ago, lie said that till within these few years the fructification of the Fuci was little known, and even yet it is not by any means understood. Since that period, how- ever, very great progress has been made in this department. The importance of the fruit in determining the genus or species to which a plant belongs, is now fully acknowledged, and our most distinguished Algologists, aided by vastly improved microscopes, having prosecuted then researches FRUCTIFICATION OF SEA-WEEDS. 31 with great diligence, have, both by accurate descriptions and by magnificent figures, given us much more accurate ideas respecting the different kiuds of fructification. Many Sea-weeds are furnished with a double system of fructifica- tion, called for convenience primary and secondary, though it is acknowledged that the latter is as capable of producing a new plant as the former. The greater part, if not all, of the red series is furnished with this double fructification, the primary, or capsular, on one plant, and the secondary, or granular, on another plant. Though the capsules of two different genera and species bear no resemblance to each other, yet there are many modifications of shape, so that they are at once like and unlike, and to become acquainted with the minor differences, requires time and attention. That our young friends may at one glance have a view of several of the forms which the fructification of Algae assumes, we have introduced some figures of them, chiefly taken from the elegant plates in Dr. Harvey's Phycologia Britannica, and Dr. Greville's Algae Britannicce, as both these gentlemen kindly allow me to avail myself of their works. At letter A, fig. 1, there is a small portion of a branch of Polysiplionia urceolata with a capsule considerably magnified ; and fig. 2, a capsule of the same greatly mag- 32 INTRODUCTION. nified. This elegantly urn-shaped capsule is also called a ceramidium, a name applied to a capsule furnished with a terminal pore or opening, and containing a tuft of pear- shaped spores. Now by looking at the greatly magnified capsule or ceramidium, you will see that it is open at the top, and that it contains the tuft of spores or seeds. Tins Poly- siplionia, with its capsular fruit is very common everywhere. We next exhibit, at B, the granular fruit of this same P. urceolata, no less common. Figure 1, is a portion of a branclilet, with the granules imbedded in the upper half ; and these are called tetraspores, because, when much magni- fied as in fig. 2, they are found each to consist of four spores or seeds. You observe also in the branchlet, the joints and the longitudinal tubes or siphons. At C, is the representation of two kinds of fructification found on a very common, but beautiful plant, Ptilota plumosa. Fig. 1, is an involucre containing fav elite; fig. 2, a lacinia, with tetraspores on short pedicels : magnified. At D, two kinds of fructification of the beautiful Ploca- mum coccineum are represented. Fig. 1, a branchlet with a lateral tubercle containing spores ; fig. 2, a branclilet with stichulia containing tetraspores: all magnified. At. E, are figures of two kinds of fructification observed wmw. we have seen it growing abundantly on Zoster a marina. It is often got on Zostera marina by Major Martin at Ardrossan. These Punctarice seem to be favourite food of some of the mollusks, as the fronds are often, when found, greatly perforated. Even for the creeping things innumerable in the sea, He who made them provides suitable food. “ These wait all upon Thee that Thou mayst give them then- meat in due season. That Thou givest them they gather. Thou openest thy hand and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.” Genus XXII. ASPEROCOCCUS, Lamour. Gen. Char. Frond simple, tubular, cylindrical, or (rarely) compressed, continuous, membranaceous. Root minutely scutate, naked. Fructification, distinct spots composed of imbedded seeds, mixed with erect club-shaped filaments. —Name from two words signifying rough and seed. — Grev. §r Haro. 1. Asperococctjs compressus, Griffiths. (PI. A . fig. 18.) Hab. Parasitical on Algae in rather deep water. Annual. Summer. Pound by Mrs. Griffiths, Torquay; Mr. Ralfs, Mount’s Bay; Miss W arren, Ealmouth ; Miss Turner, Jersey ; Cape of Good Hope, Professor Harvey. It has not been found in Scotland. l)ictijoteai.~\ ASPEUOCOCCUS. 137 It was discovered by Mrs. Griffiths at Sidmouthin 1828. Kiitzing proposes that it should be the type of a new genus, in which case, as Professor Harvey says, Grijjithsianum may very deservedly be adopted. See an excellent figure of it in Phycologia, PL lxxii. 2. Aspeuococcus Turneei, Hooker. (PI. II. fig- 7.) Hab. In the sea on stones, and the larger Algfe. Pound also in rock-pools. Annual. Summer and autumn. Pound in England in various parts by Airs. Griffiths and Air. Borrer. In Ireland by Miss Hutchins ; Professor Harvey ; Mr. W. Thompson ; Mr. Ball ; Miss Ball ; Air. Andrews. In Scotland by Captain Carmichael, Appin ; Dr. Greville, Arran. It has been repeatedly dredged off Bute by Mr. W. Gourde of Glasgow. We have dredged it in Lamlash bay. The first time I found this in the island of Arran it was in a tide-pool on the rocky shore near Clackland point. There was a fine large tuft of it, but being filled with water it was difficult to distinguish it from the element in which it was growing. The next time, it was found by Dr. Greville, on the same rocky shore but nearer Brodick. He was glad to lay in a good supply, and three or four more of us who were with him, helped ourselves as liberally, and yet much 138 British sea-weeds. [Melanospermea. of it was left in tlie pool. I looked in vain for it, however, the succeeding season. The specimens were very good, about six inches in length, and nearly an inch in breadth ; better fitted for the Herbarium than gigantic specimens of it, found in Ireland by Mr. A¥illiam Thompson, three feet and a half in length, and two inches and a half in diameter ! See a very good figure of it with fruit, &c., in Phyc. Brit. PL xi. 3. Asperococctjs echinatus, Greville. Hab. Bocks in the sea. Common. Annual. Summer and autumn. This is not so beautiful a plant as the preceding. It is much darker in colour, and generally much smaller, at least in diameter. I have, however, seen it betwixt two and three feet in length ; this was in the island of Arran, where it had a tomentose appearance in the water, as if the frond were woolly. The same thing seems to have been observed by Captain Carmichael on Asperococcus (?) pusillus, “ beset,” he says, “ with pellucid fibres so closely covering the frond on which they grow, as to give it the appearance of a bottle brush.” This appearance was very remarkable on the very large specimens which I saw in Arran ; but as tluj CHLOROSIPHON. 139 Bictyotecel] were growing in deep water, I could not at the time get hold of them for examination. Genus XXIII. CHLOROSIPHON, Harvey. 1. Chlorosiphon pusillus, Harv. Hab. In the sea, parasitical on Chorda filum and other Algae. Annual. Autumn. This is what was formerly called Asperococcus (?) pusillus. It has now been made the type of a new genus by Professor Harvey. It is got on the coast of Ayrshire, and is far from being uncommon in the island of Arran. 2. Chlorostphon Lamin arize, JIarvey. Hab. In the sea, parasitical on Alaria esculenta and TJlva lactuca. It has been found by Drs. Greville and Professor Walker Arnott in the Prith of Porth ; by Mr. Ball and Mr. Thompson in Clare ; Mr. Moore, Antrim ; Capt. Carmichael, Appin. Mr. Moore had said that it was more like A. (?) pusillus than Bangia, and that a genus might be formed of the two, which has accordingly been done by Professor Harvey. 140 British sea-weeds. \Melanospermea . Genus XXIY. CHORDA, Staclchouse. Gen. Char. Root scutate. Frond simple, cylindrical, tubular, its cavity divided by transverse, membranous septa, into separate chambers. Fructification, a stratum of obconical spores, much attenuated at the base, covering the whole external surface of the frond. Among these are found elliptical antheridia ? — The name signifies a cord. — Harvey. 1. Chorda eilum, Lamour. (PI. III. fig. 9.) Hab. In the sea, on rocks and stones, very common. Annual ? Summer, autumn, and winter. The structure of this Alga, which seems cylindrical, is very remarkable, being composed of a fillet spirally twisted into a filiform tube. The colour is olive green, becoming dark in drying. It is clothed with pellucid hair-like fibres, which, with the mucus of the plant, give it a slippery feel. The length to which it grows in favourable circumstances is very great, even thirty, and at times forty feet. Like Sargassum, it forms at some places extensive sea-meadows ; but though floating, it is always under the surface. Dr. Patrick Neill says : “ In Orkney we have sailed through meadows of it in a pinnace, not without some difficulty, where the water was between three and four fathoms deep, and where, of course, the waving weed must have been Bictyotem.'] chorda. 141 from twenty to thirty feet long. This, too, was the growth of one summer, for the storms of winter completely sweep it from the bay every year.5' ITe joins with Lamouroux, however, in thinking that it may not be strictly annual, ancl that its duration may depend on the nature of the place where it grows. I do not think it is annual, for there is no month, either in winter or spring, when some of it is not floated out on the coast of Ayrshire in stormy weather, and it is often adorned both in -winter and spring with a pretty zoophyte, Laomeclea geniculata, giving it a bottle-brush ap- pearance ; the zoophyte is very phosphorescent in the dark. In winter it seems to come from deep water, bringing with it Millepora polymorpha, and at times Venus aurea, not found on our Ayrshire coast except in this way, though abundant in Lock Eyan. Lightfoot mentions that the stalks skinned and twisted when half dry, acquire such toughness as to be used for fishing lines, like Indian grass, which grass, Dr. Neill informs us, is an animal substance attached to the ovaries of the small foreign sharks. Something similar is found at the corners of the ovaries of our common dog-fish, by which they anchor themselves to marine plants. Chorda filum goes by various names. In England it is often 14a British sea- weeds. \_Melanospermece. called Sea-laces; in Orkney, cat-gut; in Shetland, lucky Mirny’s lines ; in Ayrshire, dead men’s rogies, and we know an instance in which it proved too deserving of the name : a fine young man in bathing being entangled by it and brought out dead. For an excellent figure with the hair- like fibres ; for a part of the cylinder untwisted ; and for the different kinds of fructification, see Phyc. Brit. PI. evil. 2. Chorda lomentaria, Greville. Hab. Rocks in the sea. Annual. Common. Dr. Greville describes this well by saying that it is like the intestine of an animal tied at certain intervals. Family V. ECTOCARPEBU. “Not a tree, A plant, a leaf, a blossom, but contains A folio volume. We may read, and read, And read again, and still find something new ; Something to please, and something to instruct. Genus XXY. CLADOSTEPFIUS, Ag. Gen. Char. Fronds inarticulate, rigid, cellular, whorled, with short, jointed, subsimple ramuli. Fructification, elliptical utricles, furnished with a limbus, pedicellate, borne on accessory ramuli. Ectocarpea.'] CLADOSTEPHUS. 143 — The name from two Greek works, signifying a branch , and a croton. — Harvey. 1. Cladostephus verticillatus, Lyngl. (PL IY. fig. 14, a branch of C. verticillatus, natural size ; and at the base on the left a small portion of a branch with a whorl, mag- nified.) Hab. In the sea, on rocks and stones. Perennial. Fruiting in winter. It is pretty common in most places. It is not common, however, on the coast of Ayrshire, but when I say the coast of Ayrshire, I generally mean that part of it with which I have the opportunity of being best acquainted, viz., some dozen miles or so, in the neighbourhood of Salt- coats and Ardrossan. The sea-coast of Ayrshire strictly speaking extends nearly ninety miles. On the opposite coast of Arran, this species is pretty common. The filaments are from three to nine inches in length ; the colour olive brown, becoming browner in drying. It does not adhere to paper. 2. Cladostephus spongiosus, Ay. This is a commoner, and a clumsier plant than the pre- ceding. 144 buitish sea-weeds. \Melanospermece . Genus XXYI. SPHACELARIA, Lyngiye. Gen. Char. Filaments, jointed, rigid, distichously pinnated, rarely simple, or subdichotomous. Apices of the branches dis- tended, membranous, containing a dark granular mass. Fructi- fication, elliptical utricles, furnished with a limbus, borne on the ramuli.— The name from a Greek word signifying a gangrene , alluding to the withered tops of the branches. — Harvey. Sphacelariem are divided in two classes, viz., * Those whose fronds are beset with woolly fibres at the base or lower part. * * Those whose stems are naked at the base without woolly fibres. * Stems clothed at the base. 1 . Sphacelauia eilicina, Agar dh. Hab. On rocks and Nulli pores near low-water mark, and on the roots of Laminaria, &c. "Very rare. Found in England by Airs. Griffiths, Airs. Hare, Mrs. W yatt, Mr. Sconce, Mr. Ralfs, Dr. W. Arnott, and Mr. Borrer. In Ireland by Aliss Ball and Mr. W. Thompson, and Dr. R. Harvey; and in Jersey by Miss Turner and Miss White. Not found in Scotland. From two and four inches high. Pinna; alternate; colour greenish olive; substance rigid. Professor Harvey PL VI. Ectocarpece .] SPHACELARIA. 145 says : “ there are few more beautiful plants among the fili- form Algae of our coasts, and not many more rare.” It is a species of the south of Europe, where it is found much larger than in Britain. Miss Turner, however, has found in Jersey a specimen fully equal in size to those of the south of Europe. (See a fine figure in Pliyc. Brit. PI. cxlii.) 2. Sphacelaria sertularia, Bonnem. This, though more diminutive, is even more beautiful than the last. It is finely figured in Pliyc. Brit. PI. cxliii., though Professor Harvey is scarcely disposed to allow that it is any more than a deep water variety of Sphacelaria filicina. 3. Sphacelaria scoparia, Lyngbye. (PI. IV. fig. 15, in its summer state, natural size; the figure to the right is a branchlet, magnified.) Hab. Submerged rocks, and in tide-pools. In its summer state, it is a fine bushy broom-like plant, as the specific name implies. In its winter state it is so bared of its shaggy branchlets that it might well be taken for another plant. The difference of appearance is well represented in PI. xxxvii. of Phycologia. Dr. Greville finds it in the Frith of Forth. It is not common on the Ayrshire coast, but found in several places in the island of Arrah. L 146 British sea-weeds. \_Melanospermece . * * Stems naked at the base. 4. Sphacelaria plumosa, Lyngbye. Hab. On rocks at low-water mark, and in rock-pools. Perennial. Pound by Mr. Borrer at Beacby Head; Sir J. Richardson and Dr. Greville, Pritb of Forth ; by Mr. Ralfs in England and Wales ; by Mr. W . Thompson, Belfast bay; Miss Gower, Howth ; Bev. Mr. Pollexfen, Orkney ; Major Martin, Ayrshire; D. L. island of Arran; D. L., junr., Joppa, Frith of Forth. Professor Harvey says that this beautiful plant is pecu- liarly a northern one. The figure given in Phyc. Brit. PI. lxxxvii., is taken from a Welsh specimen, and though true, I doubt not, to nature, is greatly inferior to those we get in the west of Scotland. Those found at Ardrossan and in Arran are finer in colour and broader in the fiond. However, D. L., junr., sent me specimens gathered by him in a rock-pool, at Joppa, near Edinburgh, which though very different from those got by us on the west coast, will stand a comparison with them in beauty. The frouds are numerous ; they are scarcely so large as the western ones, but they are beautifully feathered; and instead of being light olive, they are so dark as to be almost black : while the Ayrshire ones were light olive and almost as broad as the feathers of a robin's wing ; those from the Frith Ectocarpece .] SPHACELARIA. 147 of Forth were like the greenish black of a starling’s wing. In some specimens the greenness was increased by Striatella arcuata, as a parasite. ' 5. Sphacelaria cirrhosa, lyngbye. This is a very common kind, parasitical on larger Algae. It is very variable in appearance. The most common kind, however, may be seen about the end of summer, detached from the other Algae, and floating in great abundance, like little round balls. It does not adhere well to paper. . 6. Sphacelaria pusca, Ag. This is a rare species, found in the south of England and in Wales ; it is beautifully figured in Phyc. Brit. PI. cxlix. 7. Sphacelaria radicans, Harvey. Rather rare, found in England and Ireland. 8. Sphacelaria olivacea, Harvey. Marked by Dr. Harvey as a doubtful species. We have a specimen thus named for us by Sir W. Hooker many years ago. We have often got the same plant since, and it is always parasitical on JJes . aculeata. It is smaller than S. oirrhosa and of a greener olive, beautifully tufting the Desmarestia. 9. Sphacelaria racemosa, Greville. This is described as allied to the last, but larger. Prof. Harvey marks it as a doubtful species. l 2 14.-8 British sea-weeds. [ Melanospermea . Genus XXVII. ECTOCAEPUS, Lyngbye. Gen. Char. Filaments capillary, jointed, olive, or brown, flaccid, single-tubed. Fruit, either spherical, or lanceolate cap- sides, borne on the ramuli, or imbedded in their substance. The name from two Greek words, meaning external fruit. Harvey. They are divided into two classes : — * Secondary branches alternate, flaccid, or secund. * * Secondary branches and ramuli opposite. * Secondary branches alternate. 1. Ectocarpus littoralis, Lyngbye. Iiab, In the sea, and parasitical on any Alga that comes in its way, preferring, however, the Fuel and Laminaria. It is very common. The shaggy tufts are from 6-12 inches long. It is of a brownish-olive colour, and often rust-coloured, in which case it stains the paper to which it adheres. If any prefer a good green to its natural colour, they have only to dip it for a moment in boiling water, and it comes out a pleasant grass-green. This may please the eye, but it is apt to lead the naturalist astray, as it then approaches nearer to E. siliculosus : though even in its scalded state it is coarser and more robust. Edocarpece.~\ ECTOCARPUS. 149 2. Ectocarpus siliculosus,* Lynglye. (PL Y. fig. 19, natural size ; on the left, a branclilet magnified.) Hab. On Algae, &c. Common. It is finer than the last, though sometimes larger. The colour is generally a pale olive, sometimes greenish, and sometimes yellowish. It adheres well to paper, and makes a beautiful specimen. It is best distinguished from the preceding by the fruit, which is podded (hence the specific name), and on short stalks, whereas the fruit of the former is imbedded in the branches, and subglobose. 3. Ectocarpus fasciculatus, Harvey. This is rather a rare plant. 4. Ectocarpus Hincksle, Ilarvey. This is rare also. Pound by Miss Hinks at Ballycastle, and named in honour of her. We have only once found it in Ayrshire. 5. Ectocarpus tomentosus, lynglye. Hab. On rocks and Algae. Not uncommon. Erom 1-8 inches long; frond sponge-like; colour some- times brownish, and at other times a greenish olive. * 6. Edo. scorpioides, Ilarv. * 8. Edo. longifrudus. * 7. sjnnescens, Ilarv. * 9. amphibius, Harv. * Erroneously printed reticulosus, in Syst. List. p. S3. 150 British sea-weeds. [ Melanospermea . These; according to the asterisk prefixed, require exami- nation. * 10. Ectocarpus distortus, Carmichael. Having dredged in Lamlasli bay something that puzzled me, I sent it to Professor Harvey, who at first thought that it was Ectocarpus distortus of Carmichael ; but having afterwards dredged it himself in Boundstone bay, he wrote to me that he thought it a different plant from Captain CarmichaePs, and as I had first found it he named it 11. Ectocarpus Landsburgii, Harvey. It has not much beauty to recommend it, but it is a little curiosity. Like the Scotch thistle it is armed at all points, and says as plainly as a hundred drawn dirks can say it, “ wha daw meddle wi’ me?” Phyc. Brit. PI. ccxxxm. 12. Ectocarpus crinitus, Carmichael. Hab. Muddy sea-shores, “spreading over the mud in extensive fleeces of a bright bay colour.” Found by Capt. Carmichael at Appin, and by Mrs. Griffiths in Devonshire. 13. Ectocarpus pusillus, Griffiths. Found by Mrs. Griffiths, Torquay ; and by Mr. Balfs, Land's End. This I know only by the beautiful figure in Phyc. Brit. Plate cliii. 14. Ectocarpus simplex, Ag. 15. Ectocarpus villum, Harv. Ectocarpece .] ECTOCARPUS. 151 * * Secondary branches opposite. 16. Ectocarpus granulosus, Agardh. Hab. In rock-pools on other Algse. Not uncommon in England and Ireland, and I find that it is pretty common on the coast of Ayrshire. It is a handsome plant, as may be seen by PI. cc. in Phycologia Britannica. It differs from its British congeners, by bearing dark-coloured elliptical capsules or utricles on the upper side of the opposite branches and branchlets. The fruit is often very abundant and is quite visible by the naked eye. 17. Ectocarpus sphjeropiiorus, Carmichael. Hab. On Ptilota sericea or Cladophora rupestris. This has been found in England, Scotland, and Ireland, by Capt, Carmichael, Mrs. Griffiths, Mr. Ralfs, and Miss Hutchins. It is not a common plant, and where it is found, Mr. Ralfs observes, that “ it is not diffused through the bay, but is confined to the space of a few rocks, on which it forms, as it were, a colony, or is gregarious.” It seems also to confine itself to P. sericea and C. rupestris. See a fine figure of it in Phycologia, PL cxxvi., in which may be seen also the globose fruit, either in pairs opposite to each other, or opposite to a branchlet. 152 British sea-weeds. [Melanospermea. 18. Ectocarpus braciiiatus, Harvey. Hab. On Rhodomenia palmata. It has been found by Sir Vm. Hooker and Mrs. Griffiths in England ; by Miss Ball and Mr. Wm. Thompson in Ireland ; and by Miss MacLeish and D. L. on the coast of Ayrshire. It is rare, however. The Ayrshire habitat is at Seamill, some miles north of Ardrossan. By the fine figure of it in PI. rv., Phycologia, it may be seen that the fruit is imbedded in the stem where two opposite branchlets meet. 19. Ectocarpus Mertensii, Agardh. Hab. On mud-covered rocks near low-water mark. An- nual. April and May. Bare. This fine plant, though found by most of our distinguished naturalists in England and Ireland, has been got in Scotland only by the Bev. Mr. Pollexfen in Orkney. It was named by Mr. Turner in compliment to Professor Mertens of Bremen, a distinguished Algologist. It has a fine feathery appearance. The colour is a clear olive, and it bears its fruit on the opposite ramuli. See the beautiful figure of it in Phyc. Brit. PI. cxxxn. Edocarpead\ MYRIOTRICHIA. 153 Genus XXVIII. MYRIOTRICHIA, Harvey. Gen. Char. Primary filaments olivaceous, flaccid (simple), beset on every side with simple, spine-like ramuli, which bear from their tips colourless, dichotomous, long-jointed fibres. Fructification, ovate capsules, containing a dark mass of seeds. — The name is from two Greek words, signifying a thousand hairs, from the innumerable hair-like fibres which spring from the ramuli . — Harvey. 1. Myriotrichia clav/EFORMis, Harvey. (PL III. fig. 11, plant, natural size, on Chorda lomentaria, and on the left a frond magnified.) Hab. This is found parasitical on Chorda lomentaria. It is got in England and Ireland ; and has been gathered at Ballantrae, in Ayrshire, by Mr. W. Thompson, who lets nothing escape his observant eye. 2. Myhiotrichia filiformis, Harvey. Hab. Also parasitical on Chorda lomentaria. It is not uncommon in England and Ireland ; and on the coast of Ayrshire, and in the island of Arran. By comparing our figure of the preceding with the figure of M. filiformis in Phycologia, PI. clvi., we see that the ramuli in the former regularly increase in length from the base, so as to give it a club-shaped appearance, while in 154 British sea-weeds. [Melanospermea . this they are nearly of the same length, and are collected in oblong clusters, leaving bare spaces. Family VI. CHORD ARIEJE. " Rerun Natura tota est misquam magis quam in minims.” On this family I shall not dwell long ; not because they are devoid of interest, but because I hasten on to other families whose beauty is more evident and attractive. Genus XXIX. MYRIONEMA, Greville. Gen. Char. Mass gelatinous, (exceedingly minute,) effused, composed of very short, clavate, erect, mostly simple filaments, “ fixed at their base and at them expansion.” Fruit, capsules at the base among the filaments. — Name from two Greek words signifying ten thousand filaments. — Greville. 1. Myrionema strangulans, Greville. Ilab. In the sea, parasitical on several Ulva. Forming dark brown spots, and when on Enter omorpha, forming a ring round it. I was unacquainted with this till it was pointed out to me by Dr. Greville in the island of Arran, growing on Enteromorplia in a rock-pool. Chordarieced\ ELACHISTEA. 155 2. Myrionema punctiforme, Harvey. On Chylocladia clavellosa at Appin ; on Cerammm rubens, Mrs. Griffiths, Torquay. A beautiful microscopic object. 3. Myrionema clavatum, Harvey. A thin purplish crust, covering the pebbles at half-tide level, requiring the microscope to detect it. 4. Myrionema Leclancherii, Harvey. The figures of this species and of M. punctiforme, in PI. xli. of Phyc. Brit., give a better idea of them than any verbal description. Genus XXX. ELACPIISTEA, Duby. Gen. Char. Parasites composed of simple, vertical, or radiating, jointed filaments, issuing from beneath the surface-cellules of other Algae : the lower part of the filaments hyaline, and com- pacted together into a tubercle; the upper half coloured (olive), free. Spores oblong, mostly stalked, affixed to the tubercular base.— The name seemingly from a Greek word, signifying the least. — Harvey. 1. Elachistea fucicola ( Conferva fucicola), Fr. This and the following were formerly Confervce. This one is very common on Fucus nodosus and F. vesiculosus, forming olivaceous tufts. 156 British sea-weeds. \_Melanospermea. 2. Elachistea flaccid a, Ft. Parasitic on Fucus and Cystoseira. 3. Elachistea curta, Aresch. On Fuel. 4. Elachistea attenuata, Harvey, sp. nov. On Cysto- seira ericoides. See Phycologia Britannica, Pl. xsyiii., tor this species and the following. 5. Elachistea velutina, Fries. Parasitical on Himan- tlialia lorea. 6. Elachistea stellhlata, Harvey. On lidyota di- chotoma. 7. Elachistea scutulata, Fries. On Himanthalia lorea. Genus XXXI. PALE SI A, Berkeley. Gen. Char. Frond coriaceo-crnstaceous, fixed by its inferior surface, orbicular, concentrically zoned; composed of densely packed, vertical, simple filaments. Fructification, depressed warts, scattered over the upper surface, containing obovate spores fixed to the bases of vertical filaments.— Ralfsia, in honour of John Balfs, Esq., of Penzance, a most acute botauist, whose discoveries among the minute Algfc, especially the Diatomacece , have thrown great light on that little known branch of botany.— Harvey. ChordariecB .] LEATHESIA. 157 1. Balfsia deusta, Berk. Hab. Common on the rocky shores of the British Islands. Perennial. Winter. Though very common on the Ayrshire coast, and still more so in Arran, it is not generally known, as it attracts not notice by its beauty. Genus XXXII. LEATHESIA, Gray. Gen. Char. Frond globose or lobed, fleshy, composed of jointed, colourless, dichotomous filaments, issuing from a central point; their spines, which constitute a fleshy coating to the frond, coloured and tufted. Fructification, oval spores attached to the colourless tips of the filaments. — Named Leathesia, in honour of the Kev. Mr. Leathes, a British naturalist. — Harvey. 1. Leathesia Berkleyi, Harvey. We shall briefly say of this in the words of Professor Harvey ; “a small plant more curious than beautiful, first noticed by the Lev. M. ,1. Berkeley, on rocks at Torquay.” 2. Leathesia tuberiformis. Gray. This differs from the former, which is a dense and solid substance, by being at first flocculent withiu, and then hollow. With this species I had long been familiar, without knowing its name, till it was pointed out to me in the island of Arran, 158 bkitish sea- weeds. [ Melanospermece . by Dr. Greville, as tlie Corynephora marina of Agardh. It is of a light yellow colour, and after a breeze in summer it may be seen in heaps in the little bays, not unlike bunches of hops, were it not for irregularity in size. Genus XXXIII. MESOGLOIA, Ag. Gen. Char. Frond filiform, much branched, gelatinous. Axis composed of loosely packed, longitudinal, interlaced filaments, invested with gelatine ; the periphery of radiating filaments, whose apices produce clusters of club-shaped, moniliform fibres. Fructification, obovate spores, seated among the apical fibres.— Named Mesogloia , from two Greek words, signifying viscid and middle, from the gelatinous axis .—Harvey. 1. Mesogloia vermicularis, Ag. Hab. On rocks in the sea. Annual. Summer. Common. No beauty ; though the fruit is attractive, as represented in PI. xxxi. of Pliycologia Britaunica. 2. Mesogloia virescens, Carmichael. (PI. V. fig. 20, a frond of the natural size ; on the left, a small portion of the frond magnified.) Hab. On rocks, stones, and Algae. Annual. Summer. Common. Pound in England by Mrs. Griffiths ; in Ireland by Mr. W. Thompson and Mr. M'Calla. It is very com- Chordarie(e.~\ CHORDARIA. 159 mon in the west of Scotland, much more so than the pre- ceding, and it is much more handsome. Even to the naked eye, when skilfully spread out, it is beautiful ; the colour being a sweet yellowish green, and its appearance being villous owing to the length of the filaments, which are set in a loose gelatine. The appearance of a branch under the microscope is singularly interesting. 3. Mesogloia Griffiths! ana, Greville. This, which is said to be of a much firmer and more compact substance than M. virescens, I have not seen. Genus XXXIV. CHORDARIA, Ag. Gen. Char. Filiform, much branched, cartilaginous, solid. Axis composed of densely packed, longitudinal, interlaced, cylin- drical filaments ; the periphery of simple, club-shaped, horizon- tal, whorled spores, seated among the filaments, and long byssoid, gelatinous fibres. Fructification, obovate spores, seated among the filaments of the periphery. — Chordaria, from the Latin word signifying a cord. — Harvey. 1 . Chordaria flagelliformis, Ag. Hab. Attached to rocks and stones in the sea. Annual. Summer. Common on all our British shores. In some 160 British sea-weeds. \Melanospermea . places it grows to the length of three feet, but it is seldom found more than the third of that length in the west of Scotland. It is not thicker than small twine, and hence is generally known by the name of whip-cord. When in the water it is seen to be thickly set with very fine fibres, giving it a whitish appearance, and these, along with the mucus, render it very slimy to the touch, though the dark- coloured filaments themselves are firm. In drying it generally stains the paper of a rusty colour. 2. Chord aria divaricata, Ag. This species was known only as an inhabitant of the Baltic sea, till it was found by Mr. MfCalla, in Oct., 1845, thrown up in great abundance from deep water at Carrick- fergus. I know it only by the figure given in Phyc. Brit. PL xvii. “ II y a dans chaque plante Lien examinee une preuve vivante de T existence du grande Etre qui gouverne cet univers. Les divers arrangements qui pre- senteut les organes sont autantde petits problemes proposes par- la grande In- telligence a notre faible intelligence, qui en derive. J’avoue, au moms, pour moi-meme, que je n’examine pas une simple fleur sans etre etonne de la sagesse qui enadisposee les diverses par-ties ; et sans apercevorr dans le detail ou dans 1’ ensemble, le texte de meditations les plus profondes.5 —Vaucher. . CERAMIEdE. 161 Series II. RHODOSPERMERB. “ Call us not weeds, — we are flowers of the sea, For lovely, and bright, and gay-tinted are we ; And quite independent of culture or showers ; Then call us not weeds, — we are Ocean’s gay flowers.” * Family VII. CERAM IE M. V' e have now come to a most interesting portion of our little work, in which we have to treat of the Floridece, so attractive by the loveliness of their hues, the delicacy of their structure and substance, and the grace and elegance of them forms. When well prepared and placed in an album, they are often taken for exquisite paintings. And no wonder, for “ who can paint Like Nature? Can Imagination boast Amid its gay creation, hues like hers ? Or can it mis them with that matchless skill, And lose them in each other, as appeal’s In every bud that blows ? ” These hidden beauties would almost make us wish that * Motto on the title-page of a pretty album, called ‘ Treasures of the deep ’ contammg about fifty specimens of Scottish Alga,, prepared by the authors daughters, and sold for charitable purposes. M 162 British sea-weeds, [Uhodospermea. we could occasionally take a morning walk in tlie rocky submarine valleys where they grow ; or that we could not only call, but bring up from the “ vasty deep,” some of these splendid treasures. Had we this power, however, there are other treasures far dearer to the heart which many would wish to evoke. What hid’st thou in thy treasure- caves and cells, Thou hollow-sounding and mysterious Main ? — Pale glistering pearls, and rain- how coloured shells, Bright tilings that gleam unreck’d of, and in vain. ***** Yet more, — the billows, and the deeps have more ! High hearts and brave are gathered to thy breast ! ***** Give back the lost and lovely !— those for whom The place was kept at board and hearth so long ; — The prayer went up through midnight’s breathless gloom. And the vain yearning woke ’midst festal song ! ***** To thee the love of woman has gone down ; Dark flow thy tides o’er manhood’s noble head ; O’er youth’s bright locks and beauty’s flowery crown, — Yet must thou hear a voice, — Restore the dead ! Earth shall reclaim her precious things from thee — Restore the dead, thou Sea [—Mrs. Hemans. Ceramiece.'] CALLITHAMNION. 163 Genus XXXV. CALLITHAMNION, Agardh. Gen. Clinr. Frond rosy or brownish-red, filamentous ; stem either opake and cellular, or translucent and jointed, branches jointed, one-tubed, mostly pinnate (rarely dichotomous or irregu- lar) ; dissepiments hyaline. Fruit of two kinds on distinct plants ; 1, external tetraspores, scattered along the ultimate branchlets, or borne on little pedicels ; 2, roundish or lobed, berry-like receptacles (favelke) seated on the main branches, and containing numerous angular spores. — Callithamnion is from two Greek words signifying beautiful and a little shrub. — Harvey. 1. Callithamnion Pi/umula, lynglye. Feathery Catti- thamnion. Hab. In the sea, on every shore of Great Britain and Ireland, and yet far from being common on many shores. It was first figured by Ellis more than eighty years ago, and then it does not seem to have been again observed till it was figured and described by Dillwyn, who got it at Swansea in 1803. His figure of it is good, but the colour is not sufficiently lively. It seems a deep-water plant, being got by dredging off the coast of Ayrshire and Arran. It is floated out in fruit in summer, and also so late as September. It is a captivating little Alga, the colour being a fine rosy- red, and the branches being beautifully pectinated, giving m 3 1(34, British sea-weeds. [. Rhodospermeoe . it a very feathery appearance. The capsules are small, but it is often dotted with large dark red fav elite. 2. C. cruciatum, Affardh. Hab. Mud-covered rocks in the sea ; rare. In England, by Mrs. Griffiths, Mrs. Wyatt, Mr. Ralfs, Rev. Mr. Hore ; in Ireland by Dr. J. R. Harvey, Mr. W. Thompson, Mr. Andrews; and var. 0. by Professor Harvey at Miltown Malbay. Not got in Scotland. It is a lovely plant, as may be seen by glancing at Plate clxiv. in Phyc. Brit. It is easy to distinguish it from others by the tufts of branchlets at the top of each branch. By the aid of a lens the tetraspores at the base of the branches appear divided like a cross, whence the specific name. 3. C. Arbuscula, Lyngbye . Hab. On rocks and stones in the sea. Perennial. Com- mon in many places. Rare on the east coast of Scotland, though found by Drs. Greville and Arnott. Not common on the west coast, though found in some abundance at Bal- lantrae. It seldom makes a good specimen for the Herbarium, being in general too closely matted and too dark m colour. When I had dismissed Miss Dasya Arbuscula with rather a frowning countenance, I was rebuked by looking at Ceramiea .] CALLITH AMN ION . 165 Dillwyn’s figure, PI. lxxxv. of British Confervse. It is lovely ; and I am glad to make the amende honorable. He says : “ Among the various additions that have of late years been made to the list of British Conferva, there is probably no species more beautiful or interesting than the present, which was discovered by Mr. Brown in the north of Ireland so long ago as 1800. The colour of this species when fresh appears to be a deep red brown; when dry it turns to a dull brown, tinged with green, wholly devoid of gloss/'’ I must say that those few specimens I have gathered in a fresh state from the rock, had not the lovely colour here spoken of ; but I think I have seen specimens from other localities which were beautiful even when dried. 4. C. BrodiyEI, Harvey. Hab. On other Algse, rare. Found at Forres by Mr. Brodie of Brodie; Torquay by Mrs. Griffiths and Miss Cutler ; Cornwall by Mr. Ralfs ; and by us at Saltcoats, though rarely. Colour a brownish red. The general outline of the frond is ovate, bearing a resemblance to the following. 5. C. IIookeui, Agardh. Hab. On rocks and Algte in the sea. Annual. Spring and summer. It is one of the most common on the Ayrshire 166 British sea-weeds. [ Rhodospermea . coast growing on coarse Algae, and also on sand-covered rocks. It is found in greater beauty on rocks in Arran. It is from 1-3 inches high ; colour brownish red ; branches spreading; a fine plant when the specimen is good. 6. C. tetricum, Ag. (PI. VII. fig. 25, a portion of the frond, natural size ; and on the left, a plumule with a favella, and under it a plumule with tetraspores, both magnified.) Hab. In the sea, on perpendicular faces of rocks, at half- tide level. Perennial. Common on the rocky coasts of England, and west and south of Ireland. I have not heard that it has ever been got in Scotland. It is a large, rigid, shaggy plant, of a dull brownish-red colour. It is one of the coarsest of this family. 7. C. ROSEUM, Lyngbye. (PI. VII. fig. 26, a branch, natural size ; to the right a branchlet with tetraspores, mag- nified.) Hab. On mud-covered rocks, and on Algae. Annual. Summer. Yarmouth, Messrs. Turner and Borrer; Torquay, Mrs. Griffiths ; Bantry bay, Miss Hutchins ; Co. Clare, Dr. Mackay. This I think is rare in Scotland. I found a little scrap of it which was named Cattithamnion roseum for me by Sir H.W Ceramiece.'] CALLITHAMNION. 167 William Hooker, when I was beginning to collect Algae, and I have got no more of it since. It is a beautiful plant. 8. C. floccosum, Agardh. (PL VI. tig. 22, a portion of the frond, natural size ; under it, on the right, a plumule with tetraspores, and on the left, a branchlet, both magnified.) Hab. On submarine rocks, near low-water mark. Annual. Spring. Very rare. This is a fine red, loosely branching plant, got only in the north of Scotland and in Norway. It was at first named in this country C. Pollexfenii in honour of the Eev. Mr. Pollexfen, who found it in Orkney ; but it was afterwards discovered that it had been named C. Jloccosum by Agardh. It has been gathered at Aberdeen by Dr. Dickie, to whose kindness I am indebted for some fine specimens. 9. C. Turneiu, Agardh. Hab. Parasitical on several marine Algae. Very large tufts of it are common in the island of Arran, on Fur cellar ia fastigiala. It was named C. Tnrneri, in honour of Mr. D. Turner, the author of Historia Fucorum, by whom it was discovered. The fructification approaches to that of Griffithsia. C. repens is a variety of this plant. 10. C. Pluma, Agardh. Hab. Generally on the stems of Laminaria digitata. 168 British sea-weeds. [ Rhodosjoermea . Miss Hutchins, Bantry bay ; Captain Carmichael, Appin ; Professor Harvey, Miltown Malbay. A small plant, from a quarter to half an inch in height. A fine rose reel. It is rare. I have never seen it. 11. C. BAiiBATUM, J. Agar clh. Hab. On mud-covered rocks. Perennial and very rare. A small tufted plant, found in Britain only by Mr. Ralfs and Rev. Mr. Berkeley. 12. C. tetragon um, Agardh. Hab. On the larger Algae. Annual. Summer. On the shores of England, Ireland, and also Scotland. It is occa- sionally found on the Ayrshire coast, and in the island of Arran. Professor Harvey says in Iris Phyc. Brit., PI. cxxxvi., “ when fully grown, (four or five inches in height,) this is one of the largest and most robust and shrubby British species of this charming genus, and seen under the water is an object of much beauty. In drying, though it suffi- ciently retains its form, it loses considerably in elegance, from the pressing together of the delicate quadrifarious ra- muli, which become confounded with each other.” It rapidly changes colour in fresh- water, assuming a brilliant orange tint, and giving out a rose-coloured powder. Ceramieceh\ CALLITHAMNION. 169 13. C. IIarveyanum, J. A. Agardh. This I have never seen. It is named, I doubt not, in honour of the author of Pliyc. Brit. 14. C. byssoidetjm, Arnott. Hab. On other Algee. Whitsand bay. Dr. Walker Arnott ; Devonshire, Mrs. Griffiths ; Salcombe, Mrs. Wyatt ; Strang- ford Lough, Mr. W. Thompson. We do not know that it has been found in Scotland. We have fine specimens of it from Mrs. Owens and Major Martin, got by them in Lough S willy. The stems are very slender, and the whole plant has a fine byssoid appearance. The colour is reddish brown. 15. C. polyspermum, Agardh. Hab. Bocks in the sea. Annual. Spring and summer. In England by Mrs. Griffiths, Mr. Borrer, Dr. W. Arnott ; in Ireland by Miss Ball, Mr. B. Brown, Dr. Drummond, Mr. W. Thompson, Mr. Moore; Appin, Capt. Carmichael. Though this is the ouly Scottish habitat given in the Manual, it is by far the most common Callithamnion in the west of Scotland. It is found on almost all the rocks within tide-mark. It is very abundant on the piers at Ardrossan, Saltcoats, Milport, and Largs. It is of a dull red colour ; the tufts are globose ; the filaments slender ; the capsules very numerous, lining the inner faces of the 170 British sea-weeds. [ Rhodospermea . pinnae. The most interesting specimens I ever got of it, were on the pier at Largo in Life ; they were not much above half an inch in height, but they were richly studded with the largest favellae that even Mrs. Griffiths had ever seen on this species. Our Ayrshire specimens adhere very well to paper. 16. C. TRIPINNATUM, Agar dh. Idab. On the perpendicular sides of steep rocks at low- water mark. It is extremely rare, having been found in Britain only by Mr. M'Calla at Boundstone bay. It has been found in Trance. It is as beautiful as it is rare. There is a lovely figure of it in Phycologia Britannica, Plate lxxvii. It would not be very easy to distinguish it from one or two of the greatest beauties of this genus, were it not for a curious little pinnule at the axil of the pinnae. * 17. C. affine, Harvey. This we have never seen. The locality is doubtful. 18. C. gracillimum, Agardh. “Fern-leaved” Calli- thamnion, Mrs. Griffiths. (Plate VI. fig. 21, a tuft; on the left, a plumule, magnified ; and under it a branchlet with a tetraspore, and another with a favella, both magnified.) Hab. On mud-covered rocks. Mrs. Griffiths, pier at Ceramieced\ CALLITH AMNION. 171 Torquay; Miss Warren, Falmouth ; Mr. Ralfs, Milford Haven. Finely branched, with the tetraspores on the tops of the branchlets, and the favellse at the base. In looking at these beautiful works of God’s hands, one would require an additional stock of epithets of admiration. Hear what Professor Harvey says respecting it : — “ This extremely elegant plant, perhaps truly the most graceful of the very beautiful genus to which it belongs, was first gathered on the shores of France by M. Grateloup, who communicated specimens to the elder Agardh, by whom it was published in the year 1828. Shortly afterwards the indefatigable Mrs. Griffiths discovered magnificent speci- mens growing along the mud- covered base of the harbour prnr at Torquay, in which locality it may be found in more or less plenty every summer. From Mrs. Griffiths it received the very appropriate name of f Fern-leaf’ aptly expressing the finely pinnated character of the branches, which do indeed closely resemble fairy ferns, so delicate, that it is altogether impossible in a figure to do justice to their beauty.” 19. C. thuyoideum, Agardh. Minute and beautiful and rare. I have a pretty little scrap of this from Mr. W. Thomson, got at Portaferry. 172 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. [Rhodospermece . 20. C. corymbosum, Acjardli. (PI. VI. fig. 23, a branch, natural size ; on the left a branchlet with tetraspores, mag- nified.) Hab. On Algie in the sea. Annual. June to September. Not rare ; from one to three inches high ; frond with more or less principal stems, with long alternate branches, the branchlets of an obovate shape, though on the whole the plant is well marked by a level top or corymbose ap- pearance of the branchlets. The capsules generally on the sides of the rarnuli, the binate and large in the axils ; the colour rose-red. It is a very handsome plant, adhering well to paper, and having, when dried, a glistering appearance. The finest specimens I have seen were got by Major Martin and myself, some of them on the wooden pier at Ardrossan, and others on numerous specimens of Ascidia rustica, which had attached themselves to the walls of the wet dock. It is found floating in the sea in Arran in September. 21. C. spongiosum, Harvey. Hab. On rocks and Algae. Annual. Summer. In Eng- land, by Mrs. Griffiths, Miss Warren, Mrs. Wyatt, Eev. Mr. Hore and Mr. Rohloff, and Mr. Ralfs; m Ireland, Mr. Templeton, Dr. Drummond, Professor Harvey ; m Scotland, by Major Martin, West Kilbride; at Saltcoats and Largo in Life, by D. L.j by Miss White in Jersey. Ceramie a.] CALLITII AMNION. 173 This is dark-coloured and closely matted, and not very interesting in the state in which it is generally got by us in the west, but I have good specimens from Mrs. Griffiths. 22. C. PEDICELLATUH, Acjanlll. Hab. On rocks in the sea. Not uncommon. Summer. It has been found in many places in England and Ireland. In Scotland it is rarer ; it has however been found by Eev. Mr. Pollexfen, in Orkney; by Major Martin and D. L. in Ayrshire, by D. L., junior, in Nov. 1848, in fine fructifica- tion, in a rock-pool at Joppa, near Edinburgh. The tetraspores are on little pedicels. It is a stately plant, as may be seen in Phyc. Brit., Plate ccxn. Professor Harvey in his excellent Manual states that he regards C. interrwptum as a var. of C. pedicellatnm ; but when I sent him specimens found on scallops dredged in Lamlash bay, he wrote to me that he thought them specimens of “ the long-lost Cal. interruptim.” They looked of a finer texture than Cal. pedicellatum. 23. C. floridulum, Agardli. Hab. On sand-covered rocks at all seasons. Abundant on the coast of Galway, where it was first observed by Dr. J. T. Mackay; by Eev. Gilbert Laing, in the north of Ireland. The fructification was discovered by Mr. Ealfs on speci- 174 British sea-aveeds. [ Rhodospermece . mens found at the Land’s End. It is very abundant in the west of Ireland, forming on rocks little cushions, Avhich when washed ashore in the end of summer, are called figs by the country people, and collected as manure. 24. C. Rothii, Lynglye. Hab. On rocks in the sea. Perennial. Winter. Not unlike the preceding, but smaller, and well distinguished from it by different fructification, as exhibited in Phvcologia Brit., where both plants are figured in Plate cxx. It is found both at Saltcoats and Ardrossan. At the former place the tufts are crowded, and nearly cover the rocks near high-water mark. One is almost sorry, though he must own the justice and propriety of it, that in Phyc. Brit. Callithamnion Rothii is allowed to swallow up Callithamnion purpureum of Harvey’s Manual. It had a pleasant classical interest attached to it. I have before me a little scrap of it which accompanied the following note from my kind friend Mr. Keddie of Glasgow. “Last time I was in Iona, I made diligent search for Conferva purpurea of Macculloch, the Byssus purpurea of Lightfoot, and the Callithamnion purpureum of Harvey ; and was delighted to find it still growing Avhere Lightfoot and Macculloch saw it, near the Abbot Mackinnon’s tomb. It Ceramiece.~\ CALLITH AMNION. 175 occurs in purple patches, staining the lower part of the walls of the cathedral.” It is also the Conferva purpurea of Dillwyn, whose figure is not so good as that in Phyc. Brit. * 25. C. sparsum, Harvey. Hab. On old stems of Laminaria saccharina at Appin, Capt. Carmichael ; at Miltown Malbay, on Conferva rupes- tris. Even more minute than the preceding. 26. C. Daviesii, Ay. Hab. Parasitical on the smaller Algse, such as Cer. rubrum. This forms elegant, pencilled tufts, which give a richly dressed appearance to the plant on which it fastens. Though it is a little fellow of only three lines in height, it is quite a gourmand, and has in Phyc. Brit, devoured, not only Cattiihamnion lanuginosum and my little favourite Cal. secundatum , but also Callithamnion virgatulum, though larger than itself. It is not uncommon on the west coast, espe- cially at Portincross, in rock-pools on Ceramium. Genus XXXVI. SEIROSPORA, Ilarvey. Gen. Char. Prond rosy, filamentous; stein articulated, one- 176 BEITISH SEA-WEEDS. [Rliodospermea. tubed, the articulations traversed by jointed filaments ; branches jointed, one-tubed. Fruit, oval tetraspores disposed in terminal moniliform strings. Favelke? — Seirospova is from two Greek works signifying chain-seed. — Harvey. 1. Seieospoea Geieeithsiana, Harvey. (PL ArI. fig. 24, a fine branch, natural size; at the base on the right a branchlet with terminal tetraspores ; and on the left the tetraspores removed, more or less magnified.) Hab. On rocks and stones and shells, in deep water. Annual. Summer. Pare. Mrs. Griffiths, Torquay ; Airs. Wyatt, Salcombe ; Air. W. Thompson, Portaferry; I). L. in Lamlash bay, Arran. Seirospora Griffithsi formerly Callitliamnion seiro- spermum, Griffiths. 1 iscovered by Airs. Griffiths in the autumn of 1833. It has, however, been found to differ so much in fruit from Callitliamnion as to lead Professor Harvey to form a new genus for its reception. In Calli- tliamnion the tetrasporal fruit is borne laterally along the branchlets : in this the tops of the branchlets are converted into tetraspores. It is from one to three inches in height ; colour a fine rosy-red ; substance soft, gelatinous, adhering well to paper. It was found by us while dredging in Lamlash Loch, growing on living specimens of Pccten CerainieceJ] peirospora. 177 operations * It has been dredged by Major Martin on the Ayrshire coast. A glance at our figure and at Phyc. Brit, Plate xxiv will lead you to say, “ it is a lovely plant.” Our boatmen were surprised at the avidity with which we grasped at whatever was growing upon the scallops. Among other things there were beau- faful specimens of Plumularia Catherina ^Plumulana pinnata, zoophytes which certainly had nothing in their appearance to recommend them in their state of collapse when removed from their native element. Taking one of the finest fronds of P. pinnata, I dipped it in water, and told them to look at it now. It had spread out into an elegant white plume; and regarding it with surprise, they said, they did not think that there was anything so bonnie to e got in the bay. Another Arran fisherman, however, having brought up Coralline 'to^ SPeC1"lea °.f P,umul“™ ™yriophyllum, Pheasants’s tail Coiidlme took it home as a curiosity to his wife; and she being no less taste ful than her husband, planted it in earth in an old teapot, and carefully watering it each day with fresh water, had the satisfaction of imagiZ that ,r ? I1® UDder Ler fostermg care- Be that as it may, it came uu vithered into my possession, and its vesicles are embalmed in my friend Dr. Johnston’s excellent History of British Zoophytes as brim, tV * 1 vesicles of this species that had ever been observed ^ ’ S i r,eeds «T n n ff“' ' "a-vs> however, of accounting for their disappearance wife Na S !“S Miy C!a”8 (scall°Ps) year? ” said I to a fisherman’s' 178 BRITISH sea-weeds. [RTiodospemea . Genus XXXVII. WRANGELIA, J. Agardli. Gen. Char. Frond purplish or rosy red, filamentous jointed; filaments single-tubed. Fructification of two lands; 1 tetw- spores affixed to the inner sides of the ramuli (not confined to involucres) • 2, gelatinous receptacles (favellae) terminating d by » bwolucre, -ad cousistmg of severnl clusters of pear-shaped spores, composted togethei.-lhe name in honour of Baron Von Wrangel. a Swedish natnrahst.- Harvey. 1. Whangella MPLT1HDA, J. A g. (formerly Griffith™ multificlct.') . i -p Hub. On perpendicular sides of deep marine pools Fre- quent in the south of England and west of Ireland. Bare m Scotland. Caught (Seating) by Mrs. E. M. Stark at Saltcoa s. Found by Major Martin at Ardrossan. _ . When this plant is seen in the water, it is remarkably beautiful, both in colour and structure. Ite colour it soon loses in the open an or in fresh water, b the beauty of the structure still remains. The first specimen of it I ever saw, was given to me as a zoopln e. cure in Scotland. Once or twice during the summer it may be found by us, floating, but the specimens are always exceedingly fine, though not the fourth part of the size of CeramieceJ] GRIFFITHSIA. 179 L-ish specimens, some of which would cover a quarto page. By the rushy fringed bank, ^ e grows the willow and the osier dank, My sliding chariot stays ; Thick set with agate and the azure sheeu Of Turkish blue, and emerald green That in the channel strays, Whilst from off the waters fleet, Thus I set my printless feet, O’er the cowslip’s velvet head That bended not as I tread ; Gentle swain, at thy request I am here.— Milton's Comus. Genus XXXVIII. GBIFFITHSIA, Agardh. Gen Char. Frond rose-red, filamentous ; filaments minted noughout mostly dichotomous ; ramuli single-tubed • disseni rr rtr “tion °,hro ^ J. ’ ’ tetlasPores affixed to whorled involucral ramuli- 2 g latmous receptacles (favellm) surrounded by an involucre and containing a mass of minute angular spores -CV/J; named by Agardh, in honour of Mrs Griffiths of T ^ ^ ,S° m0St «**<««. of British Algoio^X y' " 1_ Griffithsia equisetifolia, Agardh. a ' 0n rocks at low-water mark. Perennial. Summer. N 2 180 British sea-weeds. [ Rhodospermece . Common in several parts of England, Ireland, and Wales; but very rare in Scotland. It was first figured more than seventy years ago b, Lightfoot in his Flora Scotica from a specimen got by Mr. Yalden in the Mr of Forth; it is, therefore, not a little strange that it lias not been fount anT part of Scotland since. It must lose much of its colour I think, in drying, for those specimens I have seen were a dirty brown instead of the fine rosy colour of the figure m Fhycologia, Plate nxvu. This plate is very instructive, as it not only gives an excellent idea of the plant, but magni- ficent figures of an involucre containing tetraspores ; apex o branch with favelte; and also an involucre with anthendia ,.) * 2, G. simplicieilum, Agar (lh. This is like the preceding, but a more elegant plant. Its branches are attenuated to a sharp point, and it keeps i s fine colour in drying, if I may judge from a specimen given to me by Mrs. Ovens, the only one I ever saw. I was that it was from the Isle of Wight. 3 G. Devomensis, Harvey. This elegant little plant was discovered a few years ago y the Kev. Mr. Here, at Plymouth, and it was afterwards ionne by Ml'S Wyatt in Devonshire. While I refer you oi figure of it' to Phycologia, Plate xvi., I have great pleasure in quoting the following from that work : Ceramiea.] GRIFPITIISIA. 1S1 “ This graceful little plant, which appears different from all the species of Griffithsia yet described, was discovered in the summer of 1840 by the Rev. Mr. Hore, at Plymouth ; and in the autumn of the same year, added to the flora of Devonshire, by Mrs. Wyatt. I record this latter habitat in the specific name, because it affords me an opportunity of which I avail myself, to connect the name of Mrs. Griffiths with that of tire county whose shores she has so long and so suc- cessfully explored, where the best part of her life has been spent, and the natural history of which, in all its varied branches, her researches have so greatly advanced.” 4. G. barbata, Agardli. Very rare. Pound by Mr. Borrer on the beach at Brighton. 5. G. CORALLINA, Agardh. Hab. On rocks at low-water mark, or in deep pools. Annual. Summer. Very generally distributed. This is one of the most attractive of our Algae, and accordingly we find it noticed by our early botanists,— by Linnaeus and Dillenius. Its fine red, glossy beads are de- cidedly coralline-like. I suspect that it is not common in Scotland ; but when I say so respecting any plant, I wish it to be borne in mind that many of our richest localities have 182 British sea-weeds. [Rhodospermea. not been very scrutinizingly explored ; much, for instance, of the rich Garrick shores, in Ayrshire ; much of "W igtonshire, about the Mull of Galloway, where my worthy Mend the Rev. Mr. Lamb allows no rare land- plant to escape his notice, but who has not yet kept so keen a look-out for rare sea-plants ; much also remains to be done about the Mull of Kintyre in Argylesliire at Macrihanish bay, and 13 unaver ty* l^y, perhaps the richest habitats in Scotland, and where some rare plants have already been found by the Rev. Mr. Lambie. It has been once got at Ardrossan. The finest specimens 1 have of it were found by Mrs. Ovens and by Major Martin in Lough S willy. I have dredged it in Lamlash bay, where it was found on the persecuted Pecten opercularis : quite willing was I to return the scallops to the sea after stripping them of their outer furniture. This, instead of being rob- bery, was mercy, for I am sure these sea-weeds and zoophytes must have been a sad incumbrance to them in those merry evolutions in which the scallops delight to indulge, when they skim through the water in mystic dance.t * Dunavertg means the hill of slaughter, and the mournful passage of history which gave rise to the name may be found in Sir W. Scott s Tales of a Grandfaliter. * The scallops dance most merrily. When I first saw some of them at their gambols in a tide-pool, I thought they were young fishes; hut I found Ceramiece .] GRIFFITHSI A. 183 6. G. secundiflora, J. Agar dh. "This noble species, one of the finest of the section to which it belongs, was added to the British Flora by the Rev. W. S. Hore, who discovered it in August, 1 846, on rocks at extreme low-water mark at Bovislancl, near Ply- mouth.”— Phycologia, Plate clxxxv. 7. G. setacea. Agar dh. This is by far the most common of the Griffithsice. It is found in deep rock-pools. It is common in England and Ireland. It is not common in Ayrshire ; but is found in Arran, and very abundantly in the south of Kintyre. It is very common in the Frith of Forth, from which specimens rich in fruit have been sent to me in July by D. L., junr. The first specimen I got with its involucres raised on club- shaped stalks was found by the Rev. Gilbert Eaing, near Portobello. I scarcely knew what it was. It is veiy rigid when fresh j but it soon loses this rigidity vhen exposed to the air, or when put in fresh water. In water it gives all the symptoms of sudden and violent death. The membrane containing the fine carmine colouring matter that they were the young of Pecten opercularis. By opening anti suddenly shutting their valves, they skim rapidly along several yards, when they repeat the operation. 1 184 BRITISH SEA- WEEDS. [ Rhodosjpermea . bursts with a crackling noise. The plant yields its heart s blood, and dies ; yet even in death it is beautiful. Professor Harvey says that it stands confinement well ; that a tuft placed in a closed bottle of sea-water, at the end of moie than two years’ confinement was as fresh and healthy as when taken from the sea. Genus XXXIX. SPYPIDIA, Harvey. Gen. Char. Main filaments inarticulate, cartilaginous, beset with jointed ramuli ; dissepiments opake. Fructification: 1, trisporous capsules with colourless margins, clustered round the bases of the ramuli ; stalked gelatinous receptacles, with mem- branaceous pericarps, often surrounded by an involucre of short ramuli, containing two or three masses of roundish granules.— The name from a Greek word, signifying a basket , in allusion to the appearance of the receptacles.— Harvey. 1. Spyridia filamentosa, Harvey. Hab. Submarine rocks, near low-water mark. Perennial. Summer. Southern coasts of England ; rare. Till this was found lately by Mr. Ralfs in Males, it was thought to be confined in Britain, to the south of England. It is abundant in the Mediterranean. I have it, through Mr. Smith of Jordan hill, from Miss White, Jersey. PI VI CERAMIUM. 185 Geramiece.\ l I received it also from Mrs. Griffiths. The British specimens are often of a dirty brown. For its true red colour, see the figure in Phycologia, Plate xlvt. Genus XL. CERAMIUM, Roth. Gen. Char. Filaments articulated, mostly dichotomous, reti- culated with veins ; dissepiments opake. Fructification double ; 1, capsules, with a membranous pericarp, simple or lobed, gene- rally subtended by one or two short ramuli, and containing numerous angular seeds ; 2, oblong granules, partially imbedded in the joints of the lesser ramuli. — Name from a Greek word signifying a little pitcher, in allusion to the shape of the capsules in some of the species. — Harvey. It is not long since our British list contained only two or three species of Ceramia, now we have in the Phycologia fourteen enumerated. 1. Ceramium rubrum, Agardh. (PL VIII. fig. 29, is a portiou of Ceramium rubrum, natural size, and the figure to the left is a branchlet with a favella magnified. ) Hab. On rocks and Algae. Perennial. Summer. Autumn. This plant is very common everywhere. It is from six to twelve inches long; the capsules are globular, subtended by short ramuli; colour, from a fine red to a dirty white. So 186 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. [Rhodospermea. variable is it that the young botanist thinks he has half-a- dozen species at least in his vasculum, when they all turn out to be this Protean Ceramium rubrum. 2. C. diaphanum, Agardh. (Plate WII. fig. 27, is a very good figure of Ceraniium diuplicinum, natural size. On the right there is a magnified figure of a joint noth whorled imbedded tetraspores. On the left, an involucrated favella. magnified.) Plab. On rocks and sea-weeds. Winter and summer. Common. This is a handsome plant, and much admired on account of the beauty and regularity of its jointings. It is a smaller and slenderer plant than the preceding; differing from it chiefly in having the joints colourless, and the dissepiments darkly coloured. The capsules are near the tips of the branches. It is a variable plant, like the former. Its most beautiful state is when the joints are a fine rose-red, and the dissepiments pure white. 3. C. CILIATUM, Ducluz. Hab. Kocks and corallines in the sea. This may be distinguished from Cer. diapJanum by its greater rigidity; by the whorls of prickles with which the joints are furnished, and by the apices being very involute. ' '•/*■■■}}*(<>. ' #«: '"X'. * ’ ,’/y,d t. Va '**>>,: d, <6 ■ y/.fr.'fV.X, f>ftw 'VsdK X / < '' o/.o. >■. t / - / ' Sf!\iJ/.. ■:.>,■/■ '’>A V, f-A-r VfA'i,/# ‘ }. - - v* i : ■ 'A - • C 'M'/d, /* ( y • v ■ " v> "A vfSndt « AhAu*', by it* "; U *ay*xMy by 4m vfcmy Pmtsm y ;.:?/■/. r ■ ./ wr 'f. *r -t Th* VA***y#** wMxwk 4m, ymt, me 4 be fmdte *mn i a '<7C . " ' \;jr, ;:sy,! Y/, .>r- , M* hyvkm*’, 4m wymtm hby fmr mttr*, wmmm A— ^ B®*^**®> *'•■' jit «a* Im| tiiffut. htdst&A, jit » ^ ! '' '• V. ' r • . :< V, ** V, yy,w t v/. . v/ a'. V..',- ; • ->in ■*?%**/>, v-, j,f.. BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. 188 [ Rhodosjoermea . Griffiths, Rev. Mr. Hore, Mr. Rohloff, Miss Ball, Professor Harvey, and Mr. Wm. Thompson. At the time I discovered this species on the wall of the pier at Saltcoats, its name was not found in any of the lists of British Algal. It has been since described and figured in Phycologia Britannica, PI. cxli.. It is distinguished by having the coloured dissepiments armed with numerous, slender, irregularly inserted, subulate, colourless, one-jointed prickles. 6. C. flabelligerum, J. Ag. 8. C. striatum, Grev. & Harv. 7. — pellucidnm, Grev. & H. 9. — clecurrens, Id. 10. C. gracillimum, Grev. 8f Harv. Por description and figure of this little beauty, see Phyc. Brit., Plate ccvi. 11. C. nodosum, Grev. Sf Harv. Hab. Sandy shores, often at the roots of Zoster a marina. Annual. Summer and autumn. Though slender, it is rigid, and its forkings are very patent. The tetraspores are in a row, on the outside of the branchlets, and the favellce, which are rare, at the tips of the branchlets. In England, by Mrs. Griffiths and Miss Kirkpatrick; in Ireland, by Miss Ball, Miss Gowei, Mrs. Ovens, Professor Harvey, Mr. William Thompson, and Ceramiere.'] CERAMIUM. 1S9 Mr. MfCaUa. It lias been found occasionally floating in Saltcoats bay. 12. ' C. fasti giatum, Harvey. This is a lovely species. The first specimen I ever saw of it was from Mrs. Griffiths, marked very rare. The next specimens were from Dr. Greville and D. L., junr., who got them at Joppa, near Edinburgh. It was first correctly dis- tinguished by Mrs. Griffiths, who found it at Torquay. The filaments are dichotomous and level-topped ; the colour in England is described as dark purple ; in Scotland, the colour is rather light and lively purple. It is decidedly rare. 13. C. Deslon gchampsii, Cham. Hab. On rocks and Algae between tide-marks. Annual. Spring and summer. Pretty common in England, Scotland, and Ireland. This species is quite common on the coast of Ayrshire. I long thought that it was a dark-coloured variety of Cer. diaphanum. It is distinguished from that species by its colour, the straight tips of the branches, and still more by the fruit, those clustered favellce which burst from the stem and branches. It is found in rich tufts in early sum- mer on the pier at Saltcoats. It has been gathered by D. L., junr., at Leith. 190 British sea-weeds. [Rhodospermec, s. 14. C. botryocarpum, Greville. Hab. Oil rocks at low-water. Anuual ? This was discovered by Miss Amelia Griffiths at Torquay in 1844, It bears the same relation to Ceramium rubrum, that Ceramium Deslongchampsii does to Cer. diaphanum. It is distinguished from C. rubrum by clusters of favellse without involucres, bursting from the branches and branch- lets, like clusters of grapes. It was found by D. L., junr., at Saltcoats, in September, and 1 found it at Ardrossan in November, rich in fruit, dark in colour, and retaining its colour in drying and adhering well to paper. This makes me question its being annual. Like C. rubrum, it is a very variable plant, and some of the varieties are beautiful. The finest I have seen were found by Major Martin at Ardrossan, and by Mr. Keddie at Oban. Genus XLI. MICROCLADIA, Greville. Gen. Char. Frond filiform, compressed, distichously branched, traversed by a wide, articulated tube, surrounded by large, coloured, angular, radiating cells ; external coat formed of minute reticulated cellules. Fructification of two kinds on dis- tinct individuals : 1, tetraspores immersed in the ramuli ; 2, Ceramiea.] PTILOTA. 191 sessile, roundish receptacles (favellse), having a pellucid limbus, containing numerous minute angular spores, and surrounded by several short simple involucral ramuli. — The name from two Greek words, signifying a small branch. — Harvey. 1. Microcladia gland uxosa, Grev. (PI. VIII. fig. 32, portion of the frond, natural size ; figure on the left, branch- let with favella, magnified.) Hab. On rocks, and on Algae, at low water. Annual. Summer. Very rare. Mrs. Griffiths, Torquay • Miss Warren, Palmouth ; Mr. Ralfs, Teignmouth. Pound in Prance and in Kamtschatka. Microcladia bears some resemblance to Ceramium rubrum, but it has no external joints. The structure of it, as described in Phyc. Brit., PI. xxix., is very curious. Genus XLII. PTILOTA, Agard/i. Gen. Char. Prond inarticulate, linear, compressed, or flat, distichous, pectinato-pinnate ; the pinnules sometimes articulate. Fructification of two kinds on distinct individuals ; 1, tetraspores attached to, or immersed in the ultimate pinnules ; 2, roundish, clustered receptacles (favelhe) surrounded by an involucre of short ramuli. Ptilota, from a Greek word, signifying pinnated. — Harvey. 192 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. [ Rhodospermea . 1. Ptilota plumosa, Ag. (PL VIII. fig. 30), a branch, and to the right, a pectinated pinnule, magnified. Plab. On the stems of Laminaria digitata. Perennial. Summer and autumn. Common. This is a very handsome plant, and a general favourite. It is very common in Scotland. In England it is rare, and even unknown on the southern shores. How gladly would we exchange with weed-collectors, some of our fine northern Ptilotce and Odontlialia, for some of the gentler natives of the sunny south. It is a very variable plant. Some of our finest specimens were brought to us by Eev. Mr. Gilbert Laing from Orkney. Prof. Harvey in Phycologia Britan- nica, PL lxxx., gives a good figure of it with the different kinds of fruit. 2. P. sericea, Gmelin. (Plate VII. fig. 28, natural size ; to the left a magnified plumule.) Hab. On the perpendicular sides of rocks, between tide- marks. Rarely on the stems of Fucus sGrratus. Peienmal. Summer and autumn. Very common. Found also on the Atlantic shores of Europe and on the east coast of North America. The difference betwixt this and P. plumosa may be seen by comparing the frond and pinnule in PI. VIII. with the Ceramiece.'] PTILOTA. 193 frond and pinnule in Plate VII. It long ranked only as a variety of P. plumosa, and we are glad that it is restored to its original dignity of a species, the Fucus sericeus of Gmelin. V e think it well entitled to the rank. P. plumosa is never found on rocks, always on Laminaria digitata ; P. sericea is almost always found on rocks, and never that I know of on L. digitata. Ptilota plumosa is greatly infested by Mem - branipora pilosa : this zoophyte is scarcely ever seen on P. sericea, though in spring it is often almost covered by Stria- tella arcuata, a parasite which I have never observed on P. plumosa. “ The true difference, however, must be placed in the different structure of the ramuli, these being much more simple in the present plant." The specific name semcea, expresses the soft and silky nature of the plant. The colour is naturally a dark blackish brown. It is greatly improved in appearance when it assumes a pinky hue, and this may be helped on by exposure to the air. It is then a beauty. o 194 British sea-weeds. [ Rhodospermea . Family VIII. GLOIOCLADIA. Thus Nature varies : man and brutal beast, And herbage gay, and scaly fishes mute. And all the tribes of heaven, o’er many a sea — Search where thou wilt, each differs in his kind, In form and figure differs. — Lucretius. Genus XLIII. CEOUAXIA, J. Agarclh. Gen. Char. Frond gelatinous, filiform, consisting of a jointed, single-tubed filament, whose joints are clothed with dense whorls of minute multifid rarnuli. Fructification of two kinds on dis- tinct individuals ; 1, “ favellidia, subsolitary near the apex of the rarnuli, affixed to the base of the whorled ramelli, and covered by them, containing within a hyaline membranaceous perispore, a subglobose mass of minute spores ; ” 2, obovate tetraspores of large size, affixed to the bases of the ramelli.— The name m honour of the brothers Crouan, of Brest, celebrated among French Algologists. — Harvey. 1. Crouania attenijata, -T. Agarclh. Hab. Parasitical on the smaller Algae. On Cladostephus spongiosus at Salcombe, Mrs. Wyatt; near Penzance, Mr. Ealfs. Annual. Summer. Very rare. See fine figures of it, natural size and magnified, in Phyc. Brit., PI. cvi. Gloiocladia.\ DUDRESNAIA. 195 Genus XLIV. DUDRESNAIA, Bon. Gen. Char. Frond cylindrical, gelatinous, elastic ; axis com- posed of lax net-work of anastomosing filaments, coated with a stratum of closely combined longitudinal fibres ; the periphery of horizontal, dichotomous, moniliform filaments. Fructification of two kinds on different individuals ; 1, globular masses of spores (favellidia) attached to the filaments of the periphery ; 2, external tetiaspores borne on the filaments of the periphery generally terminating the ramuli. — The name is in honour of M. Dudresnay. — Harvey. 1. Dudkesnaia coccinea, Bon. Hab. Southern shores of England and Ireland. Very rare. Tills is Mesogloia coccinea of Harvey's Manual. The only specimens I have ever seen of it are from Miss White, of Jersey. 2. D. divamcata, J. Agardh. Hab. On stones and shells, not uncommon. Summer. It is much branched ; the colour pale red, or reddish brown ; the substance tender and gelatinous. Mrs. Griffiths says, “ the structure is very remarkable; the frond appears to be made up of tufts of fibres, radiating from a centre; each tuft, when separated in water under a glass, resembling o 2 196 a doable aster, or sea-anemone. In the centre of tbe petal- like fibres are masses of purplish grains.” This species has been found in England and Wales by Mrs. Griffiths, Miss Warren, Mr. Ralfs ; in Ireland by Miss Gower, Professor Harvey, Mr. W. Thompson, Mr. M'Calla; in Scotland by Mr. Brodie, Capt. Carmichael, Bev. Mr. Pollexfen ; it has been found also at Saltcoats and in the island of Arran. I have had specimens of it from Prance, from Jersey, and from Ireland, and I have seen several figures of it; but none that equalled in beauty the speci- mens that were got in Arran, which are firmer in substance, and of a richer brown colour than any I have seen from other localities. It seems a northern plant. About the month of September, it is got in beauty at Wluting bay in Arran. Genus XLV. NEMALION, J. Agardh. Gen. Char. Proud cylindrical, gelatinoso-cartfiaginous elastic, lid axis columnar, dense, composed of closely packed, longi- form, and (favellidia) name signi (taveuicua; - name signifies a crop of threads. Gloiocladia.'] GLOIOSIPHONIA. 197 1. N emalion mtjltifidum, J.Agarclh. See Phycologia Britannica, Plate xxxvi. Genus XLYI. GLOIOSIPHONIA, Carmichael. Gen. Char. Frond cylindrical, tubular, gelatinous ; the peri- phery composed of a thin stratum of longitudinal, interlaced fibres, clothed externally with short, horizontal, branched, moiri- liform filaments. Fructification, spherical masses of spores (favellidia) immersed in the moniliform filaments to whose base they are attached. — The name signifies a viscid tube. — Harvey. 1. Gloiosiphonla captllaris, Carm. Hab. On submarine rocks, and in tide-pools, near low- water mark. Annual. Summer. In England, -by Hudson, Mrs. Griffiths, Miss Warren, Sir T. Erankland, Rev. 11. Davies, Mr. Ralfs ; in Ireland, Miss Hutchins, Dr. Drum- mond, Miss Gower, Mr. M^Calla; in Scotland, Captain Carmichael, D. L. and D. L., junr. ; Jersey, Miss White and Miss Turner. This is still a rare plant, even in England, and yet more so in Scotland, ■where it had been discovered only by Capt. Carmichael, till it was found on the coast of Ayrshire. To see that it is a beautiful plant, we have only to look at the ad- 198 British sea-weeds. [Rhodosperm ea . mirable drawing of it in Phyc. Brit. PL Lvn.; and to two ex- cellent figures of it in Turner’ s Historia Fucorum, all three true to nature in the different phases which it assumes. So rare was it forty years ago, when Mr. Turner published his standard work, that he wrote of it in the following manner: — “ The whole catalogue of British Fuel does not contain a single plant that has been so much involved in doubt as F. capillaris, for being known only by Hudson’s short and unsatisfactory description, and being a plant of unfrequent occurrence, even on the British shores, to which alone it appears to be confined, its very existence as a distinct species lias been considered so questionable, that neither Dr. Good- enough and Mr. Woodward in their Observations on the British Puci, nor Mr. Stackhouse in his Nereis Britannica, nor Professor Gmelin in his edition of the Systema Natural, have ventured on introducing it ; and even at the time of publishing the Synopsis of the British Pnci, I had seen nothing more than two small specimens, so that I could say little respecting it which might be satisfactory eithei to my readers or myself. I have therefore felt a particular pleasure at being now enabled to remove it beyond the reach of doubt, through the kindness of my friends, Sir Thomas Frankland and Rev. H. Davies, both of whom by commu- Gloiocladia.'] GLOIOSIPHONIA. 199 nications with Hudson - himself, know it to be the plant designed by that author, and both find it upon their own shores.” It has been found by-D. L., junr., in rock -pools at Corrie and at Corriegills in Arran.* It has been found by myself on the Ayrshire coast at Saltcoats and Ardrossan. The first time I observed it was in Saltcoats bay at low water growing- on shale. As I was in danger of being surrounded by the returning tide, I snatched in haste a small portion from a large patch, thinking it was some common thing with rather an uncommon aspect. On floating it in fresh-water, spreading it on paper, and exposing it to the air, I was surprised to see it changing in a short time from a dull brownish red to a fine bright crimson. One of my family by wading into deep water, and catching the plants with his toes, got still finer specimens, which being treated in the same manner assumed even a richer hue. I soon found that it was this rare plant Gloiosiphonia cajoillaris. It has been carefully looked for every summer since, but it seems uncertain and capricious. Its season is limited, from the middle of June till the middle of July. Immersion in fresh water seems to bring sudden death on this as on some other * Vide “ Excursions to the island of Arran,” by the Author, p. 274. 200 British sea- weeds. [ Rhodospermece . sea -plants, but this change, as we see, only adds to its beauty. Twas death, — and yet, than life more lovely ! The eye turned Heaven-ward, beamed-with more than hope ; Yea, told of rapture; gleamed, — and closed in death. On that calm hrow, as Parian marble pale, Rests truer dignity than ever clothed The brow of potent King : peace, too, is there. The perfect peace of God, for war is o’er. Gained is the palm ; the victor wears the crown ! — D. L. 2. G. purpurea, Ilarvey. This we suppose is Mesogloia purpurea, Harvey, found at Sidmouth and Torquay by Mrs. Griffiths and Miss Cutler. We do not know it. Genus XLYI. N ACC ARIA, Endl. Gen. Char. Frond cylindrical or flat, filiform, solid, rose-red ; central cellules large, empty, those of the surface minute. Ramuli composed of jointed, dichotomous, verticillate filaments. Fruc- tification, groups of spores (favellidia) contained in swollen ramuli. — The name in honour of F. L. A ccccari, an Italian botanist, and author of Algologia Adriatica, and other woiks. Ilarvey. Gloiocladia.'] CRUORIA. 201 1. Naccaria Wigghii, Fries. Hab. On marine rocks at and beyond the limit of the tide. Annual. Summer. Very rare. It was discovered by Mr. Lilly Wigg (whence the specific name) on the Norfolk shore about the year 1790, and first described by Mr. D. Turner. It has since been found by Mrs. Griffiths and Mr. Borrer in England; by Miss Hutchins, Professor Harvey, and Mr. W. Thompson, in Ireland; but this beautiful plant has not yet been met with in Scotland.* Genus XLVIII. CRUORIA, Fries. &en. Char, krone! gelatinoso-coriaceous, forming a skin on the surface of rocks, composed of vertical, tufted, simple, jointed * “There are few naturalists, indeed,” says Mr. Dawson Turner, “to whom the marine botany of England is under greater obligations than to my riend and original instructor in this department of science, Mr. Lilly Wigg. As a proof of which it will be sufficient to mention that sis of the plants already mentioned in this work [Historia Fucorum] were first brought to light by his industry and acuteness of observation. It was he who first dis- covered the subject of the present plate, which I had a particular pleasure in describing under his name. It is an elegant species, both as to form and co our, and of remarkably unfrequeut occurrence. For many years only three specimens, and those gathered at distant intervals, were known to exist.”— ■lunNEE s Hisioria Fucorum, page 84. 202 British sea-weeds. [ Rhodospermea . filaments, set in a gelatinous matrix ; one of the joints of each filament greater than the rest. Fructification, tetraspores hung at the base of the filaments. — The name from the Latin word for blood or gore, because the plant looks like a bloodstain on the rocks. — Harvey. 1. Cruoria pellita, Fries. Hab. On smooth exposed rocks and stones between tide- marks. Fruiting in February. Perennial. Though this plant has not been very generally observed, it is probable that it is widely distributed on our shores. It is very common on the west coast, and I must hai e seen it a hundred times, without ever thinking that it was a plant, till it was named by Professor Harvey among other things that I had sent for his inspection. My specimens were chiefly found on the roots of Laminaria digitata, which it often covers to some extent with a fine dark brownish-red skin, like japan. It takes its specific nam e, pellita, from its skin-like appearance. It is well worth while to consult Phyc. Brit., PI. cxvn., where it is analysed, for it is sur- prising to see the curious filaments of which this skin is composed. Nemastomea .] IRIDAJA. 203 Family IX. NEMASTOMEA. Genus XLIX. IRID/EA, Bory. Gen. Char. Frond flat, expanded, carnose, or gelatinoso-car- nose, more or less of a purplish-red colour. Fructification, globules of roundish seeds, imbedded between the two coats of the frond. — Grrev. 1. iRIDiEA EDULIS, Bory. Hab. On marine rocks near low-water mark. Perennial. Fruiting in winter. Very common. When young it makes a pretty good specimen for the Herbarium, adhering to paper. V hen old it becomes very dark in drying, and does not adhere. Stackhouse tells us that it is eaten in the south- west of England by the fishermen after they have pinched it between hot irons, when it is said to taste like roasted oysters. If at all used in Scotland, it is after being roasted in the frying-pan. But though it should be loathed by men, to many of God’s creatures it is very savoury ; to crabs, mollusks, &c., it must be dainty food, for I have scarcely ever seen a full-grown specimen that was not per- forated by these animals, like a flag that had long stood “ the battle and the breeze.” 204 British sea-weeds. [Rhodosjoermece. Genus L. CATENELLA, Greville. Gen. Char. “ Fronds filiform, somewhat compressed, creeping, throwing up numerous branches, contracted as if jointed in a moniliform manner, composed interiorly of branched filaments, radiating from the centre.” — Greville. “ Fructification ; 1, spherical spores; 2, solitary, oblong tetraspores immersed in the periphery.” — Harvey. — Generic name signifies a chain , in allu- sion to the chain or neck -lace form of the frond. 1. Catenella opuntia, Greville. (PI. X. fig. 39, a, frond with fructification, magnified ; b, plant of the natural size.) Hab. On rocks within high-water mark. Perennial. Not uncommon, in England, Scotland, and Ireland. In Scotland we have gathered it horn the rocks at Ardrossan in the west, and on the pier at Kessen ferry, in Koss-shire near Inverness. This little plant seen on the rocks is rather insignificant, like dwarf specimens of Ghylocladia articulata, though more lurid in colour ; neither does it make any great appearance in Stackhouse's plate. There is a good figure of it in Turner s Historia Eucorum, a still better in our plate, with one of the kinds of fruit, and an excellent one in PL lxxxviii. of Phyc. Brit., wherein both kinds of fruit, long unknow n, Nemastomea.'] CATENELLA. 205 are well represented. It has, however, to Algologists been a very troublesome little fellow, pushing its nose, like Paul Pry, into not a few of their genera. Driven from one, it took shelter in another, till Dr. Greville, in pity for its manifold sufferings under the alien act, gave it a permanent abode. He says in Iris admirable Algae Britannicse, to which we have been so much indebted, and where there is a fine figure of it : “ It has successively held the title of Ulva, Fucus, Rivularia, Gigartina, Chondria, Jlalymenia, Lomentaria, and, lastly, mirabile dictu, of Chondria in Sprengehs Systema Vegetalium. I have endeavoured', — not I think without sufficient cause, — to afford this almost universal trespasser something more like a f local habitation and a name/ ” Its tetraspores were discovered by Professor J. Agardh, and both kinds of fruit have been detected by the keenly-scrutinizing eye of Mrs. Griffiths. It owes its specific name to its resemblance to the jointed leaves of Cactus optmtia. 206 British sea-weeds. [Rhodospermea. Family X. SPONGIOCABPE^h He looks abroad into the varied field Of Nature, and, though poor, perhaps, compared With those whose mansions glitter in his sight, Calls the delightful scenery all his own. His are the mountains, and the valleys his, His the resplendent rivers. — Cowper. Genus LI. POLYIDES, AgardTi. Gen. Char. Proud cartilaginous, filiform, cylindrical. Fruc- tification, naked, spongy warts, of radiating filaments, among which are imbedded roundish clusters of wedge-shaped seeds, surrounded with a pellucid border. — Greville. 1. Polyides rotundus, Greville. Halo. On rocks in tlie sea. Perennial. Autumn, winter, and spring. Bather rare. Pound, however, in England, Scotland, and Ireland. In Scotland, by Dr. Greville, Irith of Forth ; Dr. Bicliardson, near Dumfries ; at Ardrossan, by Major Martin ; by D. L., at Saltcoats in May, in fruit. The root is an expanded disk, and by this, along with the fruit, it is distinguished from Furcellaria fastigiata. The colour is blackish purple, becoming darker when dry. It does not adhere to paper. Spongiocarpece.'] FURCELLARIA. 207 Genus LII. FURCELLARIA, lamour. Gen. Char. Frond cartilaginous, cylindrical, filiform, dichoto- mous. Fructification, terminal, elongated, pod-like reoeptacles, containing a stratum of dark oblong pear-shaped seeds, in the circumference. — The name signifies a little fork. — Greville. 1. Furcellaria fastigiata, Laviour. Tliis is very common. It is often covered with large patches of Callithamnion Turneri, and with Tubulipora serpens. When fresh it has a slight violet flavour. Genus LII. GYMNOGONGRUS, Mart. Gen. Char. “ Frond cylindrical, filiform, much branched. Fructification, naked warts composed of strings of cruciate tetraspores. — Name from the Greek signifying naked and a wart, in allusion to the appearance of the fruit on the branches.” — Harvey. 1. Gymnogongres plicatus, Mart. Hab. On rocks in the sea. Perennial. Common. Root, a small disc ; fronds very numerous and matted together ; they are horny, rigid, and thicker than a hog’s bristles. In some localities they are ten inches in length ; with us from three to five ; in drying they do not adhere to paper. Very common on some parts of the coast of Ayr- 208 British sea-weeds. {Rhodospermea. shire ; much more common on the opposite islands of Cum- brae, where they are found on the shore in great reddish tufts. 2. G. Griffithshe, Mart. Hab. On rocks at low-water mark. Perennial. Winter and autumn. Pare. It is like a miniature specimen of Polyides rotundus. It was first correctly distinguished by Mrs. Griffiths, whose name it bears. Genus LIV. CHONDRUS, Stackhouse. Gen. Char. Frond cartilaginous, dilating upwards into a flat, nerveless, dichotomously divided frond, of a purplish, or livid red colour. — Grev. Fructification; 1, prominent tubercles (nema- thecia) composed of radiating filaments, whose lower articu- lations are at length dissolved into spores ; 2, tetraspores collected into sori immersed in the substance of the frond. uThe name from a Greek work signifying cartilage. — Harvey. 1. Chondrus crispus, lyngbye. (PI. IX. fig. 33, two varieties of this very variable plant, natural size ; the larger one with sori, containing tetraspores.) Hab. Rocks at low-water mark. Perennial. Spring. Very common and very variable. Turner figures ten, and Lamouroux thirty-five varieties. A.t one time it was much in repute for furnishing by its ZLH Spongiocarpece.'] PHYLLOPHORA. 209 gelatine a light easily digested food for invalids, and as the chief supply at first came from Carrageen in Ireland, it was called Irish moss or Carrageen. The market price at one time was as high as 2s. 6d. per lb. Had it continued at that rate, it would have yielded more to the industrious inhabitants of the sea-shore than even a crop of their favourite potatoes. The fashion however, has gone out, and the pi ice has fallen; but the food, prepared from it is as good as ever, and they who have tasted it once with good rich cream, will need no coaxing to partake of it a second time. 2. C. Norvegicus, Lamour. Hab. Rocky shores. Annual ? September to November. This is a pretty little plant ; rather rare. Though called Norvegicus, it is oftener got in the south of England, than m Norway. It is found in England, Scotland, and Ireland ; and occasionally only on the Ayrshire coast. Eor an ex- cellent figure of it see Phycologia Brit., PI. clxxxvii. Genus LY. PHYLLOPHORA, Greville. Gen. Char. Frond cartilaginous, or membranaceous, of a purple rose-red colour, plane, proliferous from the disc, furnished with a more or less imperfect or obscure mid-rib. Fructification ; , capsules, containing a mass of minute roundish free seeds ; 2, r 210 British sea-weeds, [ Uhodospermece . sori of simple granules in little foliaceous processes. (In two species nemathecia have been observed, but no gianules.) Giev. 1. Piiyllophora RUBENS, Greville. (PI. IX. fig. 34, a good figure of P. rubens with fructification on the frond, natural size ; and to the right at the base, a tubercle and a leafy process, with a nemathecium, magnified.) Hah. In deep water. Perennial. W inter. It is found very generally on the British shores. It is not common on the coast of Ayrshire about Ardrossan, but is very abundant on the shores of the islands of Cumbrae, only a few miles distant. Though it is not a favourite with me for the Herbarium, because it is so rigid and rambling, and does not adhere to paper when dried, I allow no specimen to pass without strict examination, for it is a peculiar favourite of many species of zoophytes, and some of them of rare kinds; for instance, Hippothoa catenularia, Hippothoa divaricata, Cri- sidia cornuta, Crisia chelata, and rare Lepr ah®, &c. The old part of the frond is a dark brownish purple ; the young proliferous part of the frond is a lively rose-ied. 2. P. Brodlei, J. Agardh . ITab. Bocks in the sea; rare. Perennial? "Winter and spring. Lossiemouth, Mr. Brodie; mouth of Bann, Air. Moore; Bangor, Mr. W. Thompson; Devonshire, var., Sjiongiocarpece.~\ PHYLLOPHOUA. 211 Mrs. Griffiths ; Malahide, Mr. M ‘'Cali a. See Phycologia Britannica, Plate xx. 1 cannot refrain from quoting what is said by Mr. Dawson Turner, respecting Mr. Pro die, in honour of whom this plant has its specific name. "The study of Natural History, independently of the advantages so nobly ascribed by Cicero to polite literature in general, that it nourishes our youth, delights our age, is an ornament in prosperity, and a comfort in adversity, may justly boast of a still supe- rior object, in leading, and, indeed, forcing man to the admiration of the wisdom and the goodness of his Divine Creator in the contemplation of the works of his Almighty hand. In addition to this, it mixes itself also with the daily occurrences of social life, and gratifies the best feelings of our nature, by uniting in the bonds of friendship those whose pursuits were already the same; while by permitting the names of its votaries to be affixed to plants, it records their zeal in its service, and touches one of the most power- ful springs of human action. Among those who eminently deserve to be thus mentioned, stands forward the name of James Brodie, Esq., of Brodie, in Scotland, a man at once zealous in the pursuit, and liberal in the patronage, of universal science, and especially of the botany of Britain.” p 2 212 buitish sea-weeds. [ Rhodospermece . Genus LVI. PEYSSOXELIA, Crouan. Gen. Char. Frond membranaceous, orbicular, or lobed, at- tached by the whole of its under surface. 1. Peyssonelia Dubyi, Crouan. Plab. On old shells and stones in deep water. North of Ireland, Mr. W. Thompson ; Eirturbui bay, Professor Harvey and Mr. M'Calla. Dredged by D. E. in Lamlash bay, Arran. After Professor Harvey had detected P eyssonelia in Ire- land, he said in a letter with which I was favoured, that I might be on the outlook for it when I went to dredge ; and at the same time sent me specimens of it. On seeing them, it struck me that I had it on some old shells in my possession, and I sent him one which I had dredged in Lamlash bay, with a dark brownish skin on it, which turned out to be true V eyssonelia Dubyi. It had been named specifically by M. Crouan, in honour of M. Duby. See PL lxxi., Phyc. Brit., which is much too light. Genus HILDENBRANDTIA, Menegh. See Pliycologia Britannica, PL xcviii. Gastrocarpeee.] KALYMENIA. 213 Family XI. GASTROCARPEiE. “ In Nature’s all-instructive book. Where can the eye of reason look, And not some gainful lesson find To guide and fortify the mind ? ” Genus LVIII. KALYMENIA, J. Agardh. Gen. Char. Stem short, cylindrical, suddenly expanding into a roundish, subsimple, or irregularly cleft, somewhat lobed frond ; favellidia densely scattered over the frond. 1. Kalymenia henifoumis, •/. Agardh. Hab. In deep shady pools at extreme low- water mark. Perennial? Summer and autumn. Discovered by Miss Everett in the Isle of Wight nearly half a century ago, and when described by Mr. D. Turner in the Historia Fucorum, it was regarded as exceedingly rare. Of late, however, it has been found in many places, especially in Ireland. Though found in Orkney by Rev. Mr. Pollexfen, it seems very rare in Scotland. The splendid figure of it in PI. xm. of Phyc. Brit, is thought rather dark in colour. 2. K. Dubyi, Harvey. This is a rare Alga, found by Miss Warren and by the Rev. Mr. Ilore at Plymouth. It has not been met with in Scotland. 214 British sea-weeds. \JRhodospermece. Genus LIX. HALYMENIA, Agardh. Gen. Char. Frond compressed or flat, pinky red, gelatinoso- membranaceous, consisting of a delicate membrane, whose walls are separated by a very lax net-work of jointed fibres ; cells of the membrane minute, coloured. Fructification, masses of spores (favellidia) immersed in the frond, attached to the inner surface of the membranous periphery. — The name from two Greek words signifying the sea, and a membrane. — Harvey. 1. Halymenia ligtjlata, Agardh. (PI. XIII. fig. 52, a good representation of two varieties of this plant.) Ilab. On rocks or stones near low-water mark, or more frequently dredged in deeper water. Annual. Summer. Frequent in the south of England, and not rare in the south of Ireland. Got in Orkney, and not very rare in the west of Scotland, where it has been repeatedly dredged off Arran by D. L. ; off Ayrshire, by Major Martin, and found cast out on the shore by the Bev. Mr. Lambie, at Southend, Kintyre. I have a specimen gathered by Miss White in Jersey, where it is common. When the colour is rose-red, as it often is, this is a beautiful plant, especially if the frond is broad j but it- is very variable m form. At times the frond is quite narrow Gastrocarpere.'] GINNANIA. 215 and dichotomous. Tor the fruit and structure see PL cxn. of Phycologia Britannica. Genus LX. GINNANIA, Wont. Gen. Char. Frond terete, dichotomous, membranaceo-gelati- nous, traversed by a fibrous axis, from which slender, dichoto- mous, horizontal filaments radiate towards the membranous periphery; surface cellules hexagonal. Fructification spherical masses immersed in the frond, affixed to the inner coating, com- posed of radiating filaments, whose apical joints are converted into spores. — Name in honour of Count Ginnani, an Italian botanist. — Harvey. 1. Ginnania furcellata, Mart. Hab. On rock and shells in deep water. Annual. Sum- mer. Bather rare. This hue plant may seem to resemble the dichotomous varieties of llalymenia ligulata, but the structure and frond are different. Professor Harvey mentions a remarkable feature of its structure that has been little attended to, viz., an axis or internal rib somewhat like the mid-rib of a JJelesseria. This plant has been got in England and Ireland, but in so far as we know it has not yet been found in Scotland. See Phyc. Brit., Plate lxix. 216 British sea-weeds. [ Rhoclospermece . Genus LXI. DUMONTIA, Lamour. Gen. Char. Frond cylindrical, simple, or branched, membra- naceous, tubular, gelatinous within, of a red, or purplish-red colour. Fructification, globules of seeds attached to the inner surface of the membrane of the frond. — The name in honour of M. Dumont, a French naturalist. — Greville. 1. Dumontia filiformis, Greville. (PI. X. fig. 40.) Hab. Stones and rocks in the sea. Annual. Summer. Common. On the coast of Ayrshire the twisted variety is the most common. I remember that it was one of the first I requested Sir W. Hooker to name for me, mentioning its pungent taste and smell as characteristic. See fine repre- sentations of the fructification in Dr. Greville’ s Algae Britan- nicae, Plate xvn., and in Professor Harvey’ s Phycologia Britannica, Plate lix. By mentioning the smell of Dumontia, I have been re- minded that Punciaria plantaginea, has generally with us so much of the flavour of sliced cucumbers, as to perfume the apartment into which it is brought. I have not seen this noticed in any description of that plant. Coccocarpea.~\ G1GAETINA. 217 Family XII. COCCOCARPE M. He who, through nature’s various walks, surveys The good and fair her faultless line pourtrays ; Whose mind, profaned by no unhallowed guest, Culls from the crowd the purest and the best ; May range, at will, bright fancy’s golden clime, Or, musing, mount where science sits sublime, Or wake the spirit of departed time. Pleasures of Memory. Genus LXII. GIGAETINA, Lamour. Gen. Char. Frond cartilaginous, either filiform, compressed or flat, irregularly divided, purplish red ; axis or central substance composed of branching and anastomosing longitudinal filaments ; the periphery of dichotomous filaments laxly set in pellucid jelly, their apices moniliform, strongly united together. Fructification double on distinct plants ; 1, external tubercles, containing on a central placenta dense clusters of spores (favellidia) held together by a net-work of fibres; 2, tetraspores scattered among the filaments of the periphery, or aggregated in dense, immersed sori. — The name from the Greek word for a grape-stone, which the tubercles resemble. — Harvey. 1. Gigaetina pistillata, Lamour. Hab. On rocks near low-water mark. Perennial, winter. Very rare. Discovered by the Hon. Dr. Wenman in 1800. 218 BUITISH sea-weeds. [ Rhodosjoermea . Found by Stackhouse, Brodie, Mrs. Griffiths, Miss Hill, Dr. MfCulloch, Dr. Jacob, Mr. Gilbert Sanders; by Miss Turner in Jersey. It does not seem to have been procured in either Scotland or Ireland. It is a remarkable plant ; the tubercles are large, gener- ally near the point of the branch which projects like a horn ; the colour is a dull purplish or brownish red ; it does not adhere to paper. A person who has seen the very correct figure of it in Pliyc. Brit., Plate ccxxxii., could not fail to know it, were he to light on so great a prize. I am glad that I have even better than the figure, having received a specimen of this very rare plant from Professor Harvey. 2. G. ACicuLAius, Lamour. (Plate XI. fig. 42, plant in fruit.) Hab. Submarine rocks near low-water mark. Annual. Winter. Bare. This bears some resemblance to the preceding ; but it is a less robust plant. The tubercles are rarer and smaller, and the dull purple colour becomes pink in fresh water. It is found in England by Mr. Bashleigh, Mrs. Griffiths, Miss Cutler ; in Ireland by Mr. W. Thompson and Professor Harvey. A single specimen of it was found in Scotland by Mrs. Ovens near Arclrossan. Coccocarpece .] GIGAETINA. 219 3. G. Teedii, Lamour. Hab. On rocks in the sea; very rare. Perennial. Ellery Cove, and Tor Abbey rocks by Mrs. Griffiths, to whose kindness I am indebted for a fine specimen of this rare Alga. 4. G. mamillosa, J. Agar dh. Hab. Rocks in the sea, near low-water mark. Perennial. Autnmn and winter. This species is as common as the others are rare ; the fronds are from 3-6 inches long, cartilaginous, channelled; cap- sules on little stalks scattered profusely over the disc of the frond. We have found it very large in Arran, rolled up in the form of a ball. The finest specimens we have ever got were at Gourock near Greenock. Till we met with it figured and new-named in Phycologia Britannica, we re- garded it as a Chondrus. It is gathered and employed for culinary purposes along with Chondrus crispus, or Carrageen. Indeed, the lady who first collected Carrageen in Ayrshire, to make blanc-mange, gave the preference to this species, saying, that it was more gelatinous than the other. I have seen the fronds in the Clyde more than an inch broad. The Plate cxcix. in Phyc. Brit, would be very good, if it were darker. 220 British sea-weeds. [ Rhodospermea . Genus LXIII. GEL1DIUM, Lamour. Gen. Char. Frond, between cartilaginous and corneous, piano- compressed, distichously branched, branches pinnate, or bipin- nate, pinnae spreading, or horizontal, obtuse, capsules spherical, immersed in the extremities of the ramuli. — Greville. 1. Gelidium corneum, Lamour. Hab. On rocks in the sea and in rock-pools. Perennial. Summer. On most of the rocky shores. “ The varieties of this species,” says Dr. Greville, “ are almost endless, and some of them so singular, that without practical knowledge, to guide us in our investigation, they may be taken for very distinct species.” I can vouch for the truth of this, for in a very beautiful variety sent to me by the Eev. Mr. Smith of Borgue, I thought I had got the southern Grateloupia Jilicina. For good figures and de- scriptions, see Algm Britannicse, Plate xv., and Phycologia Britannica, Plate liii. Dr. Greville describes about four- teen varieties. * 2. G. cartilagineum, Greville. Idab. On rocks in the sea. Perennial. A magnificent plant, but a very doubtful native. The frond is from 12-18 inches long ; the colour is a dark purple, but when it begins to be decomposed, it is shaded with Coecocarjpece.'] GRATELOUPIA. 221 fine tints of scarlet orange, yellow, and green. I remember seeing a good specimen framed as a painting, and exposed for sale in the Cowgate of Edinburgh. I procured two specimens of it from Dublin, where, on clit, it is occasion- ally found in the bay. Genus LXIY. GRATELOUPIA, Agardh. Gen. Char. Frond flat, more or less pinnate, membranaceous, flexible, solid, composed of densely interwoven, anastomosing, branching filaments, those of the periphery moniliform, short, and very strongly compacted together. Fructification ; 1, globu- lar masses of spores (favellidia) immersed beneath the peri- pheric stratum, communicating with the surface by a pore; 2, cruciate tetraspores, vertically placed among the filaments of the periphery, in sub-defined sori.— In honour of Dr. Grateloup, a French Algologist. — Harvey. 1. Grateloupia filicina, Ag. Hab. On rocks and stones in the sea. Very rare. Dis- covered by Miss Cutler. Found by Mrs. Griffiths at Bar- rowcane; and by Mr. Ralfs, Mount’s bay, Cornwall; plentiful. I have a specimen of it from Mr. Balfs. It has not been found in Scotland or Ireland. “The only British plant with which this is likely to be confounded is Gelidium 222 British sea-weeds. \_Rhodosjoerviece. corneum, to some varieties of which, especially G.flexuosum, it bears a very strong resemblance. Its softer and more membranous substance will generally distinguish it to the feel; and the microscope will point out a difference of structure.” Harvey. For good figures see Algae Brit., Plate xvi., and Pliyc. Brit., PI. c. Family XIII. SPIIEEBOCOCCOIDErE. O ! what an endlesse work have I in hand, To count the seas abundant progeny ! Whose fruitful seede farre passeth those in land, And also those which wonne in the azure sky : And much more eath to tell the starres on hy, Alhe they endlesse seeme in estimation, Than to recount the sea’s posterity, So fertile he the fiouds in generation, So huge their numbers and so numberlesse their nation. Spenser’s Fairy Queene. Genus LXY. IIYPNEA, Lamour. Gen. Char. Frond filiform, cartilaginous, continuous, much branched, cellular ; with a dense, more or less evident fibro-cel- lular axis, surrounded by several rows of angular cells, the inner- most of which are largest, the outer gradually smaller to the Sj)Juerococcoidece.~\ HYPNEA. 223 circumference. Fructification of two kinds on distinct indivi- duals ; 1, spherical tubercles (coccidia) sessile, or immersed in the ramuli, containing a mass of small spores on a central pla- centa ; 2, transversely parted tetraspores imbedded in the cells of the surface. — Hypnea, an alteration of Hypnum, the name of a genus of mosses, in allusion to the mossy characters of some of the original species. — Harvey. 1. Hypnea purpueascens, Harvey. (Plate X. fig. 37, a, branch with tubercles, of the natural size; i, magnified portion of a branchlet with a tubercle or coccidiiun.) Por the reasons which have induced Professor Harvey to transfer this species to Hypnea of Lamouroux, see Phyc. Brit., Plate cxvi. Hab. In the sea on rocks and the larger Algse. Annual. July to November. Frequent on the shores of England, Scotland, and Ireland. It is got at an early period of the season, and being then without tubercles, it is apt to be mistaken for some other plant. In this growing state the branches occasionally terminate in capillary tendrils, which twine around other AlgEe. Lightfoot says, " the fructification appears like little grains or tubercles of a round or oval figure, hardly so big as the smallest pin’s head.” With us the oval tetraspores are as big as middle-sized pins’ 224 British sea-weeds. \_Melanospermece. heads. When full grown, this plant is very bushy, and at times two feet in length ; the stem as thick as a crow’s quill, thickest at the middle, and attenuating towards each end; substance cartilaginous, but soft, and adhering to paper ; colour brownish or purplish-pink, becoming darker in drying. I preserve a very dark specimen as a memorial of a pleasant half-hour’s algologising in the sweet bay of Bosemarkiee, in Boss-shire. Genus LX VI. GBACILABIA, Grev. Gen. Char. Frond filiform, or rarely flat, carnoso-cartilaginous, continous, cellular ; the central cells very large, empty, or full of granular matter ; those of the surface minute, forming densely- packed, vertical filaments. Fructification of two kinds, on dis- tinct individuals; 1, convex tubercles (coccidia) having a thick pericarp, composed of radiating filaments, containing a mass of minute spores on a central placenta ; 2, tetraspores imbedded in the cells of the surface. — The name from the Latin word signi- fying slender. — Harvey. 1. Gracilaria erecta, Greville. Hab. On sand-covered rocks, near low-water mark. Perennial. Fruiting in winter, bidmouth and Torquay, ZLZL ll.B.M Spharococcoidea. ] GRACILARIA. 225 -Mrs. Griffiths ; in Ireland, by Mr. W. Thompson, Mr. D. Moore, and Mr. M'Calla; in Orkney, by Rev. T. H. Pol- lexfen, Lieut. Thomas, and Dr. MfBain. This curious little plant is one of the numerous disco- veries of Mrs. Griffiths. When in fructification it cannot be mistaken for anything else, as the densely clustered tubercles on the branches, and the lanceolate terminal pods containing tetraspores, are sufficient to distinguish it. When not in fruit it is like G. coiifeTvoides in a young state. As the Scottish specimens were not in fruit, some doubt hangs over them. In Plate xiv. of Algae Brit, there are excellent figures of it, both of the natural size and mag- nified, with dissections of the fruit, &c, ; and the same may be said of Plate clxxvii. of Phycologia Britannica. 2. G. confer voides, Greville. (PI. XI. fig. 44, branch of the natural size; conjoined with it there is a small por- tion of a branch with tubercles, magnified.) Hab. In the sea on rocks. Perennial. In fruit from August to October. It is said to be of rather frequent occurrence on the British shores, and yet I do not know that it has been gathered in Scotland, except by the Rev. J. Macvicar, many years ago in the Frith of Tay. It is more than a foot and a half in length, and easily known by its Q British sea-weeds. [ Rhodospermece . 226 tubercles. Colour deep red. It is cartilaginous, and does not adhere to paper in drying. 3. G. compressa, Greville. Hab. Cast ashore from deep water, attached to coral, &c. Mery rare. Annual. Summer. Discovered by Mrs. Griffiths at Sidmouth. hound also by Miss Cutler in the south of England ; and by Miss Turner, Jersey. Substance when fresh, very tender, and succulent and brittle, becoming tough when dried ; colour, dull red, be- coming brighter when steeped in fresh water. In form, it very much resembles Gracilaria lichenoides, bleached speci- mens of which I have from my friend Mr. Gourlie. Having lost their colour they make no show in the Herbarium, but they appear very well on the table in the shape of blanc- mange, which is of of a brownish-red colour. Mrs. Griffiths got some of our native G. compressa prepared for the table, and it answered as well as the foreign one ; but it is too rare to be so employed, except by way of experiment. Since writing the above, I resolved, with the remainder of Mr. Gourde's Agal-Agal, or G. lichenoides, to try if it would, by putting it on gauze, form a lanthorn a la mode de Chine. The experiment was quite successful. I have also within these few days seen an edible swallow's nest, which Splicer ococcoidece.~] SPMROCOCCUS. 227 had every appearance of being formed of mashed Agal-Agal. The form is oval, joined to the rock at one of the ends, truncated for that purpose, and very like a receptacle for holding a watch. Some feathers of the birds were adhering to it still. 4. G. multi partita, J. Agardh. Hab. On rocks and stones in muddy places in the sea, chiefly in estuaries, near low-water mark. Annual. August and September. This is a showy, but rare plant, being as yet found in Britain only on the southern shores of England. It is, however, widely distributed over the world. Its oldest name is Fuchs multipartitus of Clemente. For a fine figure and description see Phyc. Brit., Plate xv. Genus LX VII. SPILEROCOCCUS, Agardh. Gen. Char. Frond cartilaginous, much branched in a distichous manner, compressed and two-edged below, nearly flat upwards, t o branches acute at the apex; capsules spherical, mucronate on little stalks fringing the. smaller branches. — Greville. 1. SpiiiERococcus coronopifolius, Agardh. (Plate XII. fig. 48, part of the frond, of the natural size, and a portion o a brand llet with tuberdes, magnified.) Q 2 228 BRITISH SEA- WEEDS. [_Iih odosperm ecu . Hab. On rocky shores. Perennial. Summer and autumn. Common on the southern shores of England ; not uncom- mon in Ireland. Rare in Scotland, where, however, it has been found by Dr. Greville in the island of Bute ; by Major Martin at Ardrossan; by D. L. at West Kilbride, Ayrshire, and in the island of Arran. Erom the similarity in colour, and from some resemblance in the outline, it may at times, in Scotland, have been passed over as Plocamium coccineum. It is, however, a much larger plant, being a foot and a half in length. It is one of the most beautiful of the British Algae. M hen pro- cured fresh, the colour is a fine rose-red. Eor excellent figures, with instructive dissections, see Plate xa . Algae Britannic® of Dr. Greville, and Plate lxi. of Professor Harvey’s Phycologia Britannica. Genus LXVIII. RHODYMENIA, Greville. Gen. Char. Frond plane, membranaceous, fine pink or red, quite veinless, sessile, or with a short stem, which expands im- mediately into the frond. Fructification; 1, hemispherical scattered capsules; 2, minute, ternate granules, spreading over the whole, or some part of the frond (not in defined spots) - Name from two Greek words signifying red membrane.— G-reuUe. HplMrocoecoidm. j UHOOYMKSIA. 22!) 1. iinoiJYMEN/A mi'll) a, Greville. I lab. On rocks in the sea, and on Alga:. Summer. Annual. Frequent on the (southern chores of England. In Ireland, where it is not rare, fine broad-fronded speci- mens have been got by Miss iiyndman and Mr. It. Moore. It has been got by I Jr. Greville in Bute. Not uncommon on the coast of Ayrshire, where it has been often found by Major Martin and by IJ. L. It is most abundant in early autumn when it is cast out in the form of round tufted balls, frequently the abode of the pretty zoophyte, Vallceria cmcula. A curious variety of this plant was gathered by my kind friend Mr. Keddie, respecting which Professor Harvey said that it was so different from the usual appearance, that had it come from a distant country he should have been disposed to exalt it into a species, under the name of It. fmbriala. Jt is, however, a very variable plant everywhere. It is as thin as a Ni t/y/ihyllvm, but it differs from Nilophyll/u/m and even from other Rhdymenuz. 2. ii. j.ACiNMTA, Greville. (PI. IX. fig. 30, plant of the natural size, with a small portion of the margin with em- bedded tubercles or coccidia, magnified.) Hab. On rocks, and on Lamina/ritz ; generally in deep water. Biennial. January to July. Frequent in Scotland, 230 British sea-weeds. [RJiodosjpermece. England, and Ireland. It is not common, however, on the coast of Ayrshire about Saltcoats and Ardxossan. It is frequent and very fine at Southend, Kintyre, at Duna- verty and Macrihanish bay. The most beautiful specimens I have seen of it were gathered in the island of Mull by Her Grace the Duchess of Argyll and Lady Emma Campbell, and not thought less lovely because prepared by persons whose great worth and numerous accomplishments give additional dignity to their high rank and station. Its substance being thick, is very different from R. bifida. When got among rejectamenta, and partly decomposed, the specimen is spotted with white, which has not a bad effect. See a fine figure of it, natural size, and magnified figures of both kinds of fruit in Plate cxxi. of Phyc. Brit. 3. It. Palm etta, Greville. Hab. On rocks, and on Laminaria. Annual. Summer and autumn. Not uncommon on the British shores. Bare in the west of Scotland. Pound by Mrs. Gibb at Saltcoats ; and by D. L. near the lighthouse, Pladda, off Arran. Substance rigid, and imperfectly adhering to paper; colour a fine pinky red, retained in drying. Eor excellent descriptions and figures, see Algse Brit., PL xii., and Phyc. Brit., PL cxxxiv. Sp/uerocoeco idea . ] RHODYMENIA. 231 4. E. membranifolia, J. Agardh. Hab. On rocky shores, frequent. Perennial. October to March. Frond from three to twelve inches high ; substance of the cylindrical stem cartilaginous, and of the flat frond, membranaceous. 5. E. cristata, Greville. Hab. Parasitical on the stems of Laminaria digitata. A northern species. Yery rare. Annual. July. Found by Sir W. Hooker and Mr. Borrer at Wick in Caithness. In the Frith of Forth, Dr. Greville ; at Berwick, Dr. Johnston. 6. E. ciliata, Greville. Hab. On rocks in deep water. Annual. Winter. Fre- quent on the southern shores of England, and in some places in Ireland. Eare in Scotland, where it was found by Lightfoot in Iona; and by Lieut. Thomas and Dr. M'Bain, in Orkney. Substance thicker than any other Rhodymenia ; colour, a deep red. I have a line specimen from Miss White, Jersey. 7 . E. jubata, Greville. (PI. XI. fig. 43, frond, natural size, and a magnified figure of a cilium with a tubercle.) Hab. On rocky or gravelly shores. Annual. Summer. 232 BRITISH SEA- WEEDS. [ Rhodospermece . Frequent in the south of England, and in some places in Ireland. Said to be common in Scotland, but we have never gathered it. Some dwarf specimens of it were found by Mr. It. M. Stark at Ballantrae. 8. It. palmata, Greville. Ilab. On rocks, andpther Algae. Very common. Annual or biennial. Winter and spring. Instead of giving any further description of this plant, it is sufficient to say that it is Dulse, and every child who has been brought up on the sea-shore, is able to point it out to the new-fledged Algologist. There is no sea-weed more generally regarded as an article of food than Dulse. By the Highlanders it is called Duillisg, which we learn on high authority is a word compounded of two Gaelic words, duille, a leaf, and uisge, water, i. e., the leaf of the water. From uisge is derived the word whisky ; and with the addition of laugh, life, we have the usquebaugh of the Irish ( aqua-vita ), the water of life ; with how much more propriety might it be called the water of death! In some parts of Ireland the Dulse is called dillisk, which means still the leaf of the water, for esh means water: hence we have so many rivers in Scotland named Esh, such as North Esk and South Esk, i. e., North -Water, South- Sphcerococcoidece.] RHODVMENIA. 233 Water. The Highlanders and Irish, as we have already stated, were much in the habit, before tobacco became so rife, of washing Dulse in fresh-water, drying it in the sun, rolling it up and then chewing it as they now do tobacco. How much better had it been for them had they stuck to the use of the less nauseous, less filthy, less hurtful Dulse, Indeed, instead of being hurtful, it is thought wholesome and not unpleasant, especially when it is eaten fresh from the sea, as is the case in the Lowlands. Dr. Greville mentions that it is the true Saccharine Fucus of the Ice- landers. According to Lightfoot it is used medicinally in the isle of Skye, to promote perspiration in fevers. In the islands of the Archipelago, it is a favourite ingredient in ragouts , to which it imparts a red colour, besides rendering them of a thicker and richer consistence. The dried frond, like many other Algae when infused in water, exhales an odour resembling that of violets; and Dr. Patrick Neill mentions that it communicates that flavour to vegetables with which it is mixed. Rhodymenia sobolifera was long ranked as a distinct species ; but Professor Harvey in Phyc. Brit., mentions it only as a variety, and I know that Dr. Greville regards it 234 British sea-weeds. [ Rhodosjiermea . in the same light. We have got it growing on the stems of Fucus serratus in Arran and Ayrshire. Family XI Y. DELESSEEIE/E. There’s beauty in the deep : — The wave is bluer than the shy; And though the light shine bright on high, More softly do the sea-gems glow. That sparkle in the depths below ; The rainbow’s tints are only made When on the waters they are laid ; And Sun and Moon most sweetly shine Upon the Ocean’s level brine : — There’s beauty in the deep. J. G. C. Brainard. Genus LXIX. PLOCAMIUM, Lamour. Gen. Char. Frond filiform, compressed, between membrana- ceous and cartilaginous, fine pink-red, much branched, branches distichous (alternately secund and pectinated). Fructification of two kinds ; spherical sessile capsules, and lateral minute processes, containing oblong granules, transversely divided into several parts by pellucid lines. — The name from a Greek word signifying braided hair. — Greville. Belesseriece.~\ PLOCAMIUM. 235 1. Plocamium coccineum, Lyngbye. (PL XII. fig. 46, portion of the frond, natural size ; and at the base, on the left, a brancldet with a tubercle, magnified.) * Hab. Common almost everywhere in the sea. Perennial. Summer and autumn. Though generally common, it is rather of unfrequent occurrence on the sea- shore about Ardrossan and Saltcoats, but very frequent at Ballantrae in Ayrshire. So abundant is it on the coast of Kintyre, Argyllshire, that it might be got in cart-loads. It has generally a peculiar appearance, according to the place where it grows. At Leith, where it is very frequent, it is more cartilaginous, more erect, and of a darker hue than the Ayrshire specimens ; and the pattern, we would * “ The description,” says Mr. Turner, “ given of this plant in the ‘ Flore Franjaise,’ is so characteristic that I am tempted to transcribe a part of it. Sa tige est tres rameuse, et toujours dans le meme plan : l’ordre des lamifications est tres remarquable ; chaque rarneau est legerement flexueux, et n’ emet de ramifications que du cote convexe : la premiere est un filet simple etpointu; la deuxieme est un filet qui a trois dents dn cote anterieur; la troisieme est un filet qui a deux dents, et qui au lieu de la troisieme dent pousse un filet muni d’une dent en dehors ; la quatrieme est un filet qui n’ a qu’ une dent, la deuxieme dent est devenue un filet a une dent, et la troisieme un filet rameux. Apres ces quatre ramifications il y a un espace vide, et la tige emet des rameaux semblables du cote oppose.” 236 British sea- weeds. SJllwdospeniiece. say, less genteel .* Tlie Irish specimens are large and strong, as well-represented in Pliyc. Brit., Plate xliv. It is not easy to account for the variety of form which the plant assumes in different localities. Looking at a pretty specimen got from Miss "White, in Jersey, through the kindness of Mr. Smith of Jordan- hill, we were going to ascribe its greater softness of substance and more flowing ramification, to the more genial climate; but turning our attention to a rich specimen from North Bonaldshay, we saw that the Orcadian was as flowing in ramification, and as flaccid in substance as the native of the Channel Islands. A specimen gathered by Mr. Keddie at Iona, and another found by the Lady Emma Campbell, in Islay, resemble those found in the north of Ireland. The one from Lady Emma Campbell acquires additional value from having a very rare zoophyte nestling among its lower branches, — Alecto granu - lata of Milne Edwards. Dr. Johnston describes and figures it in his most interesting History of British Zoophytes. It had previously been procured only by Mr. Couch, m Cornwall, and by Mr. William Thompson in Ireland. Keep a good * Since writing the above, I have received from Mrs. R. M. Stark, Edin- burgh, specimens gathered by her at Leith, as beautiful in colour and as genteel in form as any found in the wTest. Delesseriece. ] DELESSERIA. 237 look-out my young friends, for precious parasites on what comes from deep water, or new localities. The colour of Plocamium coccineum is beautiful, especially when exposed a little to the sun after a shower of rain ; it then becomes a lovely crimson. “ One of the most charming and symmetrical Algae in the world, extremely common, and a universal favourite/'’ says Dr. Greville. “ A well- known, abundant, and beautiful species, and an especial favourite with amateur weed-collectors, and manufacturers of sea-weed pictures/’ says Professor Harvey. Genus LXX. DELESSERIA, Lamour. Gen. Cliar. Erond rosy-red, flat, membranaceous, with a per- current mid -rib. Pructification of two kinds ; 1, capsules con- taining a globular mass of seeds; 2, ternate granules forming definite sori, in the frond, or in distinct foliaceous leaflets. — The name in honour of a noble French patron of science, the Baron B. Delessert. — Greville. 1. Delesseria sanguinea, Lamour. (PI. XIII. fig. 50, plant with leaflets from the mid-rib.) Hab. On rocks and also, on other Algae. We have found it on the roots of Laminaria cligitata. It is biennial. The fructification of two kinds may be seen on the naked 238 British sea-weeds. [ Rhodospermece . mid-rib in December and January. The stem is about an inch in length, considerably thicker than a crow quill. It is occasionally divided into more than a dozen fronds, from two to four inches broad, and from six to ten in length ; generally acute at the tip, but at times rounded. The margin is more or less waved. A beautiful variety, mentioned by Professor Harvey as sent to him by D. L., was found floating at Saltcoats by Miss Mac Leish ; she got it only once, but it was a great bunch, of a dozen branches, some of the fronds being eight inches in length, and five and a half in breadth. The pecu- liarity of this remarkable variety was, that it was lobed somewhat like Delesseria sinuosa, with a mid-rib in each lobe. Another specimen of the same kind was got by Miss Ramsay, of Glasgow, at Gourock. It was a splendid specimen, of a very rich colour, with three large lobed fronds, the largest being nine inches and a half by five. There is in the possession of my friend Major Martin of Ardrossan, a magnificent frond of D. sanguined, which Sir William Hooker said was the largest he had ever seen. The single frond or leaf is thirteen inches long, and eight inches broad ! This gentleman's collection of Algae is most splendid, and he has almost as much pleasure in displaying Delesseriece.~\ DELESSEEIA. 239 these rich prizes of peace, as in showing his well-earned trophies of war. He lately received one of the Peninsular medals as an acknowledgment of his eminent services in the Peninsula, during a number of years ; he received also a gold medal for having commanded the 45th Regiment at the battle of Toulouse ; he was most dangerously wounded at Ciudad Rodrigo, having been shot through the body while fighting at the top of the main breach. Stackhouse speaks of D. sanguined as not being common, and as seldom found entire. On the coast of Ayrshire in spring and early summer, it may be got on the shore in abundance, and quite entire, after a stiff breeze.* In January it might puzzle the young Algologist, as nothing then re- mains but the red stem, and mid-rib beset with fruit of both kinds, on separate plants. In February it makes an inter- esting specimen with young leaves, more than an inch in length, springing from the mid-rib, mixed with the fruit. In March the fruit has disappeared, but the leaves are then three or four inches in length, and almost an inch in breadth, * This entireness depends on the nature of the shore. Since writing the above, I spent a day in Arran, where I found abundance of D. sanguined, appearing very fresh and entire, but when floated, almost every frond was found to be injured by granite rocks and gravel. 240 British sea-weeds. [ Rhodospermece . of a fine fresh glossy pink hue, and of a lighter and more delicate tint then when they are full-grown. When full- sized, the fronds are generally, on the Ayrshire coast, about seven inches long, and an inch and a half in breadth, though often much larger, and the colour is then a splendid rich pinky red. In its spring and summer dress it is a lovely plant, and it is not wonderful that it should be a universal favourite. Mr. Dawson Turner says : “ In the elegance of its appearance, and the exquisite colour of its most delicately-veined leaves, this beautiful Fucus so much excels all its congeners, that it carries away the palm with no less justice from the vegetables of the ocean, than the rose, the flower of the poets, from its rivals in the garden/5 In Phyc. Brit., PL cli.. Professor Plarvey says : “ This fine plant, whether we regard the splendour of its colour or the elegance of its form, is entitled to high rank in the Oceanic Plora, and notwithstanding its common occurrence on all our shores, is never seen without attracting admira- tion. In favourable localities it reaches to a very large size, — and such specimens are among the most beautiful vegetable objects in nature.55 The substance of the leaves is delicately membranous. They are often plaited along the margin, and this gives additional beauty to dried specimens J B JT » Delesseriea .] DELESSERIA. 241 by varying the hues of the fine crimson pink. We may mention that the fronds, if allowed to remain long in fresh water, give out much of their colouring matter and are consequently paler when dried, and have less also of that glossy shining aspect which otherwise characterizes them. 2. D. sinuosa, lamour. Hab. On the larger Algse. Common. It is questioned whether it is biennial. I have observed it during all the winter on the stems of Laminaria digitata, though it is then in a ragged state, and does not adhere to paper in drying. Mr. Turner in his Historia Tucorum, Plate xxxv., shows it when advanced to the second year of growth. Stackhouse, also, in Nereis Britannica has a figure of it ; but neither of them gives us the plant in its most beautiful state, as found in Ireland and in the west of Scotland. I have before me an Irish specimen, the frond of which is six inches in length, and as many in breadth, and I have seen them larger. I have also before me a Scottish specimen gathered at Gourock, by my friend Miss Ramsay, of Glasgow, which though not the largest, is the richest and most beautiful one I ever beheld. It consists of three fronds of large size, shaped like an oak-leaf, the colour of which is a fine dark brownish-purple. It is rather n 242 beitish sea- weeds. [TLhodospermece. remarkable, that this and the very splendid Delesseria san- guined, which I have already mentioned, should have been found so far up, where the fresh water of the Clyde must have a considerable effect. Perhaps they were driven from their moorings in the Holy Loch, which is nearly opposite, and in the shelter of which they might expand themselves ; or, as Miss Ramsay thinks, from the rocky point at Port-kill in the parish of Roseneath. This is a very variable plant in its appearance, according to its age ; the leaves when very young being oval. The substance is thin and membranaceous, adhering tolerably to paper in drying, unless when old ; the colour when fresh is red, but not so fine a red as the preceding ; it becomes much darker in drying, unless decomposition has begun, in which case there is a fine variety of tints, red and green, and yellow and white. 3. D. alata, Lamouroux. ITab. In the sea, chiefly on Laminaria digitata. It is questioned whether it is perennial. I can answer for it that it is at least biennial. It is got all winter in a ragged, sapless state, when it does not adhere to paper in drying. Early in March it begins to grow, and in a short time the lower part of the frond is dark and rigid, and the Delesseriece.] DELESSERIA. 243 upper is light-coloured, and fresh and limber. In the end of March this year, I got specimens in this state, some of them with capsular fruit on the young part of the frond, and others with ternate granules thickly imbedded in little leafy processes at the very tips of the frond, having a rich appearance. This is by far the most abundant Delesseria on our western shores. Even in its most common state it is a handsome plant. It is occasionally found on the coast of Ayrshire, — and much more frequently on the Irish coast, — in such a state as to be truly magnificent. In some speci- mens collected by Dr. Drummond, Belfast, the frond or winged membrane is half an inch broad. I have a specimen of this description gathered by Mrs. Lyon at Glenarm, and more than one procured by Mrs. Ovens and Major Martin in Lough Swilly, of which the winged membranes are not only broad, but the whole plant is larger than usual, and the colour a fine rich dark purple, so that at first a person would take it for a member of a nobler tribe than our every-day acquaintance, Delesseria alata. 4. D. angustissima, Griff. Hab. On the stems of Laminaria digitata. Perennial. M inter and spring. Bather rare. Lossiemouth, Mr. Brodie ; r 2 British sea-weeds, [Ehodospermea. 244 Aberdeen, Dr. Dickie ; Cornwall, Mr. Ralfs ; Orkney, Rev. Gilbert Laing and Rev. J. H. Pollexfen ; Island of Islay, Lady Emma Campbell. Tlris is one of the Alga vexatce. When found by Mr. Brodie in the north of Scotland about forty years ago, and sent to Mr. Turner, they agreed in considering it a variety of ID. alata, naming it D. angustissima. In deference to a person of remarkably sound judgment, and who is seldom mistaken, Professor Harvey described it in his Manual as Gelidium ? rostratum j in Phycologia Britannica, he figures and describes it as Delesseria angustissima ; in his excellent Plate lxxxiii. the figures of the fruit exactly correspond with those of D. alata , except that the tubercles or capsules in Iris figure are in sharp-pointed, axillary ramuli : whereas in my specimens of D. alata , they are in the rounded or dicho- tomous tips of the frond. I have beside me a specimen from Dr. Dickie, Aberdeen ; another from the Rev. Gilbert Laing, Orkney; and a third gathered by Lady Emma Campbell, in the island of Islay ; the latter is a fine rambling plant, in which the compressed edge of the frond begins to be membranous. 5. D. Hypoglossum, Lamouroux. Hab. On rocks and on other Algae. Annual. Summer. Deles series.'] DELESSEBIA. 245 Frequent on the shores of England and Ireland, and not rare in Scotland. The distinguishing characteristic of this pretty species is the repeatedly proliferous leaflets from the mid-rib. It is very variable. The frond is sometimes half an inch in breadth, but this is only in Ireland, where it reaches its maximum of beauty. In Scotland it is not uncommon. In some seasons it is abundant on the coast of Ayrshire, and the size is often about equal to the beautiful figure, Plate n., Phycologia Britannica. But at times in Ayrshire and in the island of Cumbrae, the frond is remarkably narrow, not above half a line in breadth. I have received fine specimens from the Rev. Gilbert Laing from Orkney, and I have one magnifi- cent specimen procured by Major Martin in Lough Swilly of which the frond is so large that it might be mistaken for a young specimen of Delesseria sanguinea. 6. D. kuscieolia, Lamour. (Plate XIII. fig. 49, plant with tubercles on the leaves and leaflets, natural size.) Hab. On rocks, and sometimes on the stems of Laminaria cligiiaia, and on other Algae. Annual. Summer and autumn. It is rare in Scotland. It has twice been pro- cured, floating, in fine condition, by Miss Mac Leish, in the sea at Saltcoats. Miss White, Isle of Portland. 246 B1UTISH SEA-WEEDS. [Rhodospermece. “ How calm, how beautiful comes on The stilly hour when storms are gone ; When morning winds have died away, And clouds beneath the glancing ray Melt off, and leave the land and sea Sleeping in bright tranquillity, — Fresh as if day again were horn Upon the rosy lap of mom ! ” Genus LXXI. NITOPHYLLUM, Greville. Gen. Char. Frond plane, delicately membranaceous, rose- coloured, reticulated, wholly without veins, or very slight vague ones towards the base. Fructification, hemispherical capsules imbedded in the substance of the frond, and ternate granules forming distinct scattered spots. — Greville. 1. Nitoehyllum puectatum, Greville. (Plate XIII. fig. 51, plant with spots of granules scattered over the frond.) Ilab. In the sea, attached to various Algse. Annual. Summer. It seems to be found on most of the shores of England and Ireland, and on the Scottish shores as far north as Orkney. On the coast of Ayrshire, we would say, that in general Delesseriea .] NITOPHYLLUM. 247 it is rather rare ; jet there are seasons when it is very abundant. The summer of 1847 was one of these. In the summer of 1848 it was very rarely observed. It has the property, like Nitophyllum versicolor, of assuming an orange hue in fresh water, and of recovering its original colour when dried. Tresh water acts also on it, as on Grifiithsia setacea. My daughter, Mrs. Stark, when floating a newly-collected specimen in fresh water, cried out “ Hear how it fizzes In the struggles of death it made this hissing, crackling sound, but it was soon over. The speci- mens got in the west of Scotland, though very beautiful, are seldom more than five inches in length by four in breadth. With what surprise should we gaze, were a gigantic Irish specimen to be floated over to us, such as those found by Mr. D. Moore at Cushendall bay, in the west of Ireland, — five feet long, by three feet wide ! We have heard of mer- maids reclining on a rock, combing their beautiful flowing locks ; were they ever in the pride of their hearts, to think of assuming female attire, what robe could be more appropriate and becoming than a spotted Nitophyllum ? with its finely lobed margin encompassing their neck, and turned back, a la l andylce, on their shoulders, where is the mer-man who would not be fascinated with their graceful appearance in this 24 ^ Js remarkaUe ^ the/seem J £ cirmT t6r Y are detached’ twistinS themselves about in a vermi- culai manner.— Excursions to Arran by B.L., p. 319. 268 British sea-weeds. [RJioclosjoermea . lobed. I have a specimen from Locb Ryan which perfectly corresponds with the first figure of it, given in Plate lxxiv., Phyc. Brit. After the description of it Professor Harvey adds : I have mentioned that the vegetable nature of the corallines is now distinctly proved. The question still remains -whether Melobesia are independent vegetables, or whether they be merely amorphous states of the common Corallina officinalis. This latter is the view of the subject advocated by Dr. Johnston, whose opinion, founded on observation, and as the opinion of an accomplished naturalist who has paid much attention to the lower tribes of animals, and is fami- liar with variations in form among sponges, nearly as wild as this would be, — must not be hastily condemned.” Though he does not feel warranted to give a direct negati\ e, he is not disposed to agree with Dr. Johnston’s views on this point, and he assigns his reasons. The Ocean heaves resistlessly And pours his glittering treasure forth ; His waves, the priesthood of the sea, Kneel on the shell-gemmed earth. And there emit a hollow sound As if they murmur’d praise and prayer ; On every side ’tis holy ground All nature worships there ! ” Vedder. Rhodomelece.) ODONTHALIA. 269 Family XVII. RHODOMELEiE. The ocean old hath my deep reverence, And I could watch it ever : — when it sleeps, And its hushed waves but throb at intervals, Like some fair infant’s breath in sad repose, — ’Tis strangely sweet to gaze ; — or when it starts At voice of torturing storm, and, like mad age, Tosses its hoar hair on the raving wind, ’Tis wild delight to watch it. But I love To see it gently playing on loose rocks, Lifting the idle sea-weed carelessly ; — Or hear it in some dreary cavern muttering A solitary legend of old times. — T. IT. Reynolds. Genus LXXIX. ODONTHALIA, lynghye. Gen. Char. Frond plane, between membranaceous and carti- laginous, dark venous red, with an imperfect or obsolete mid-rib, and alternately toothed at the margin. Fructification, marginal, axillary, or in the teeth ; 1, capsules (ceramidia) containing pear- shaped seeds, fixed by their base ; 2, slender processes (stichidia) containing ternate granules. — Greville. 1. Odonthalia dentata, Iryngbye. Hab. On rocks in the sea. Perennial. Fruiting in early winter. This is a northern species, not being got in England south of Durham j and it is confined also in Ireland to the north. 270 buitish sea-weeds. [ Rhodospermea . It is most abundant in Scotland; very frequent on the coast of Ayrshire, where we have a variety of it richer than any I have seen figured. The fronds of this variety are rather more limber than the common kinds, and the branches and denticulations are smaller and more numerous, and more closely arranged. In November, Odonthulia is very frequent on the shore, finely dotted with fruit, which is very observ- able, as the frond at this season is dark-coloured, and the fresh ceramidia and stichidia are reddish purple. In the early part of the season, April and May, the young light- brown fronds are intermingled with the old dark fronds. The young fronds adhere well to paper; the old ha\e be- come rigid, and do not adhere unless coaxed with a little isinglass, or subdued by a hasty ducking in hot water. Dr. Greville’s Plate xiii. in Alg. Brit., and Professor Harvey's Plate xxxiv. in Phyc. Brit., give much insight as to the structure and fructification. The colour of Plate xxxiv. is bluer than the plant is with us. Mr. D. Turner’s is too brown. Genus LXXX. BIIODOMELA, Agardh. Gen. Char. Frond cylindrical, or compressed, filiform, much branched, coriaceo-cartilaginous (the apex sometimes involute). RhodomeleceJ] bhodomela. 271 Fructification; 1, subglobose capsules, containing free pear- shaped seeds : 2, pod-like receptacles, with imbedded ternate granules . — Greville. 1. Rhodomela subfusca, Agardh. Hub. In the sea, on rocks and on other Algae. Perennial Fruiting fiom the beginning of spring till the beginning of winter, when it bears stichidia. Very common on the English, Irish, and Scottish shores. It is a very variable plant, in spring beautifully tufted, in summer coarse and bushy, in winter ragged, rigid, and ugly ; and yet even then it is far from being without interest, as it is then occasionally ornamented with fresh-coloured stichidia on the old black branches. The colour in summer is a dull reddish brown, which becomes black in drying. I have some fine black specimens from Staffa and Iona! Except m its young tufted state, it does not adhere well to paper. 2. R. lycopodioides, Agardh. Hab. On rocks in the sea, and on Laminaria digitata. Perennial. Fruiting in spring and summer. Its capsular fruit is more globose than that of the preceding. ^ This is a northern species, frequent in the North of • England and Ireland, and found on most of the Scottish shores. In spring it is procured in abundance on the coast 272 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. [ Rhodosperrnea . of Ayrshire. The winter and early summer states of this plant are exceedingly different. In winter, when found with perhaps a dozen black branches, more than a foot in length, from one root, closely invested with the numerous stumps of summer branclilets, it might pass for a cluster of black wolves’ tails, rather than wolves’ feet, as the specific name would lead us to expect, unless the black feet carry the black legs along with them. In early summer it sends forth along the old stem abundance of young branches, which are beautified with numerous feathery tufts of ramuli, causing it greatly to resemble Tolysiphonia Broduei. The substance in winter is cartilaginous and rigid, and does not adhere to paper in drying ; the colour m that state is very dark. In early summer the branches are quite pliant and rather flaccid; adhere closely to paper, and form a beautiful specimen, of a light brownish-purple colour. In some specimens collected on the coast of Devonshire, the frond is twenty inches long, and the lateral branches from six to fourteen : some of the Scotch specimens are equally large. The figure in Hist. Tucorum is good, in the winter state of this plant, though too light in colour. Plate l. in Pliyc. Brit, is good and instructive. Rliodomelece .] BOSTRICHIA. 273 Genus LXXXI. BOSTKICHIA, Mont. Gen. Char. Frond dull purple, filiform, much branched, inar- ticulated, dotted ; traversed by a jointed tube surrounded by one 01 more concentric layers of oblong, coloured cells, which are gradually shorter towards the circumference ; the surface cells quadrate. Fructification of two kinds on distinct individuals; 1, lateral capsules ’ (ceramidia), Iloth. ; 2, tetraspores, con- tained in terminal, lanceolate pods. — The name from a Greek word signfving a curl of hair or ringlet. — Harvey . 1. Bostrichia scorpioides, Mont. (Plate XI. fis\ 41 . ' O y branch of the natural size ; and small portion of a branch, magnified.) Hab. On muddy sea-shores, near high-water mark; at the estuaries of rivers ; in salt-water ditches, and marshes, and even adhering to the roots of flowering-plants. An- nual. Summer. In England and Ireland, but in so far as we know, not yet observed in Scotland. It formerly ranked under the genus Rhodomela. See a beautiful figure of it in Phycologia Britannica, Plate xlviii. t 274 British sea-weeds. [Rhodospermece . Genus LXXXII. RYTIPHL^A, Agardh. Gen. Char. Frond filiform, or compressed, pinnate, transversely striate, reticulated; the axis articulated, composed of a circle of large, tubular, elongated cells (siphons) surrounding a central cell ; the periphery of several rows of minute, irregular, coloured cellules. Fructification of two kinds on distinct individuals ; 1, ovate capsules (ceramidia) containing a tuft of pear-shaped spores ; 2, tetraspores, contained in minute lanceolate receptacles (stichidia) in a double row.— The name from two Greek words signifying a wrinkle and bark, because the surface is transversely wrinkled or striate. — Harvey. 1. Rytiphhea pinnastroedes, Agardh. Hab. On submarine rocks near low-water mark. Peren- nial. Winter. In several places on tbe shores of the south of England. By Miss White and Miss Turner m Jersey. Found neither in Scotland nor Ireland. Substance car- tilaginous, not adhering to paper; colour, a dark reddish brown, becoming black in drying. For structure, fruit, &c., see Plate lxxxv., Phycoiogia Britamnca. 2, R. complahata, Agardh. Hab. In rock-pools, among Corallina officinalis. Peren- nial? Summer. Very rare. Discovered in Bantry bay by Rkodomelece.'] ItYTIPHLJEA. 275 Miss Hutchins. Got by Professor Harvey, Ireland ; by the Rev. W. S. Ilore, Professor Walker Arnott, Dr. Jacob, in England. See fine figure, Phyc. Brit., Plate clxx. 3. R. thuyoides, Harvey. (Plate XV. fig. 59, plant of natural size ; and part of a branch, magnified.) Hab. Rocks in the sea, rock-pools. Perennial. Summer and autumn. Bantry bay. Miss Hutchins; Prof. Harvey, Miltown Malbay; Mrs. Griffiths and Mr. Ralfs, Devonshire; Mr. W. Thompson, Ballantrae; D. L., Portincross; D. L., junr., Arran. It is a variable plant, some specimens resembling Polysi- phouia nigrescens, and others approaching Polysiphonia fruticulosa. It often bears antheridia in summer; colour, a brownish red becoming darker in drying. 4. R. fhuticulosa, Harvey . Hab. On rocks in the sea; sometimes in rock-pools, and at other times on sand-covered rocks. Perennial. Summer and autumn. Frequent on the southern shores of England. Got in Ireland by Miss Hutchins, Mr. W. Thompson, Mr. . Moore ; m Scotland, by Capt. Carmichael, at Appin; by Miss Ramsay, Spring Bank, Arran ; by D. L., Corrie, Arran ; by D. L., junr., Corriegils, Arran ; I know only of one place where it is got on the coast of Ayrshire, -in the little t 2 270 British sea- weeds. [7 Uiodospermecs. harbour at Portincross, where it was first found by Mrs. Ovens and Major Martin. Though cartilaginous, it adheres to paper, and forms a beautiful specimen. Colour, brownish, becoming black m drying. Genus LXXXIII, POLYSIPHONIA, Greville. Gen. Char. Proud filamentous, partially or generally articu- late ; joints longitudinally striate, composed internally of parallel tubes, or elongated cellules. Fructification two fold, on distinct plants; ovate capsules (ceramidia) furnished with a terminal pore, and containing a mass of pear-shaped seeds ; 2, tetraspores imbedded in swollen branehlets.-The name from two Greek words signifying many tubes. Harvey. 1. PoLYSIPHONIA PARASITICA, Greville. (PI. XII. fig- ^ > plant of the natural size ; to the right, a portion of a pinnule, and to the left, a portion of a pinnule with a capsule, both magnified.) . Hab. Parasitical on the larger Algm, and more frequen y „„ MeUesia on the steep sides of rock-pools. Got also by dredging in from four to fifteen fathoms water. Found on all the British coasts, but regarded as rather rare. rs. Griffiths, Devonshire; Dr. Greville, Loch Evan; Major Rkodomelece .] BOLYSIPHONIA. 277 Martin, Ardrossan ; D. L., Saltcoats. Many fine specimens have been got in the island of Arran, where it was dis- covered by Isabella L., growing in abundance in rock-pools on Melobesia, The richest habitat, however, is at Portin- cross, betwixt Ardrossan and Largs, where in August it is abundant among rejectamenta, in the little creek that forms the harbour, being drifted from deep water. Professor Harvey says that our Ayrshire specimens are by much the finest he has seen. The numerous branches are at times about three inches in length. It is often got with capsular fruit, and the capsules are larger in proportion to the stem. At times, also, there are spurious capsules,- — knobs formed by the stinting of the ramuli. Not unfre- cjuently, also, there are clusters of short branches matted together on various places of the frond, — miniature resem- blances of those bunehes of twigs like birds* nests often seen on birch trees. But the most interesting specimens, though the most minute, were got by me after the storms of December, 1848, creeping on the roots of Halidrys siliquosa . Instead of growing upright, as they usually do, they were repent, not only fastened by the radical roots (if we may employ this tautological expression), but throwing out roots at intervals 278 British sea-weeds. [Rhodospermea. from the stem, and from the branchlets, and so firmly did they adhere by these that it took repeated tugs to disengage them, and you heard a crackling as if yon had been slitting out the s tidies of an old garment. In this way they lay quite unaffected by any storm that did not uproot the Eali- drys. The largest frond I observed of this creeping variety, was not above an inch in length ; it was much more com- pressed than the erect kind, and being a darker purple, it bore a striking resemblance to Jungermannia complanata, which creeps on the bark of trees. I found it also in this state on the roots of Laminaria digitata, but Ealidrys was evidently the favourite. Creeping in this way it is much better entitled to the specific name parasitica, as it resembles ivy, putting out its tendrils to cling tenaciously to trees. The colour is reddish brown, becoming darker in drying. There is a beautiful figure of it in Phycologia Britannica, Plate cxlvii. 2. P. SUBULIFEHA, Harvey. Hab. In the sea. Rare. Perennial? Found by Mrs. Griffiths, Torquay ; Capt. Carmichael, Appin ; by Professor Harvey (who kindly sent me specimens) in Ireland ; got also on the Irish shores by Mr. Templeton, and by Mr. M'Calla ; by the latter abundantly at Roundstone. Rhodomelece.~\ POLYSIPHONIA. 279 It has a very thorny habit, as the specific name implies. To the naked eye it bears some resemblance to young speci- mens of Rytiphlaa fruticulosa, but it is distinctly jointed and more flaccid. See a good figure of it in Pliyc. Brit., Plate ccxxxvii. 3. P. atro-rubescens, Greville. Hab. On stones and rocks in the sea, near low-water mark. Annual. Summer and autumn. Not uncommon. It has borne a good many different names, — Conferva nigra, Hutchinsia denudata, Polysiphonia iadia, P. AgardJi- iana, and finally P. atro-rubescens : the specific name was given by Dillwyn. It is got on the coast of Ayrshire. One of the best distinguishing marks, though not constant, is the spiral curving of the tubes. Colour, a dark-red, be- coming brownish ; the substance is somewhat rigid, so that it does not always adhere to paper. See in Phycologia Britannica, Plate clxxii., a very good figure, natural size, and portions of the stem and fruit magnified. 4. P. spinulosa, Greville. Hab. Torquay, Mrs. Griffiths ; Appin, Capt. Carmichael. Extremely rare. A good figure of it is given by Dr. Greville in his Cryptogamic Blora. 5. P. nigrescens, Greville . £80 British sea-weeds. [Ehodospermece . Ilab. On rocks, &c., in the sea. Perennial. Summer. Pronds tufted, and from six to eight inches high; fila- ments robust, rigid, and generally rough below, with broken branches, much branched and bushy above ; articulations short, capsules ovate ; colour dark brown, becoming black in drying. In a young state it is often very beautifully tufted, and of a purplish-pink colour, which it retains in drying. 6. P. furcellata, Harvey. This is a very rare species. Mrs. Griffiths found it floating in the sea, at Sidmouth. It was got also by Mr. M'Calla near Carrickfergns in 1846. It is between Polysi- phonia fastigiata and Polysiphonia nigrescens, but different from both. See Phycologia, Plate vii. 7. P. fastigiata, Greville. Hab. On Fucus nodosus and F. vesiculosus, especially the former, forming globose, dense bushy tufts, of a brown, or at times a yellowish colour. It is very common; but common as it is, I have a liking for it, as it was the first ot the small Algm I knew by name. I had been correspond- ing with Professor John Pleming, of Edinburgh, respecting shells and zoophytes, and meeting with this sea-weed in such abundance, I wished to know its name, and sent a specimen to him, which he returned with the name it then Titch.lith-. Rhodomelea. ] POLYSIPHONIA. 281 bore ; so that I am indebted to him for setting me agoing in Algology as in some other departments of natural science. It is common at all seasons on all our shores. Many a nice little mollusk nestles among its tufted branches. In sum, mer its tips are often yellow with antheridia. It adheres well to paper in the early part of the season, and makes a fine specimen ; it is very polymorphous. 8. P. Riciiardsoni, Hooker. Owing to my limited space, I shall merely give the name of this and some that follow. 9. P. Griffithsiana, Harv. 12. P. Grevillii, Harv. 10. — Carmichaeliana, Harv. 13. — striata, Grev. 11. — variegata, Agardh. 14. —obscura, Agardh. 15. P. Bbodlei, Greville. (Plate XV. fig. 60, branch, natural size, and branchlet with capsules, magnified.) Hab. On rocks and corallines near low-water mark. An- nual. Summer. Common in Scotland on rocky shores ; also in England and Ireland. Frequent as it is now known to be, it remained unnoticed by naturalists till it was sent by Mr. Brodie of Brodie to Mr. Dillwyn about forty years ago, who dedicated it to Mr. Brodie. It was then ranked as a Conferva. “ G. Brodieei, says Mr. Dillwyn, “is among the most magnificent of the 282 British sea-weeds. [Rhodospermece. genus, often extending to a foot and a half or two feet in length, and pushing forth from a discoid base, several main filaments as thick as small twine, and of a blackish-purple colour. These are beset with scattered branches of uncer- tain length. Along the branches at irregular intervals, clusters of slender ramuli are disposed.” The colour is generally dark brownish purple ; the substance is soft, soon decomposing in fresh-water. There is a fine figure of it, and the different kinds of fruit in Phyc. Brit., Plate cxcv. The plate in Dillwyffis British Conferva;, is both good and interesting, for the drawing from which it was taken was made by Miss Hutchins, and communicated by her to Mi. D. Turner, who sent it to Mr. Dillwyn. 16. P. eibrillosa, Greville. Plab. Bocks in the sea. Annual. Summer. This is a pretty species, common in England, Scotland, and Ireland. It is large, the frond being from 6-10 inches, the main stem nearly half a line in diameter ; the branches in the upper part clothed with slender, finely divided ramuli, at times straw-coloured, but more generally rosy, becoming purple when dried. Mr. Borrer thinks that it resembles Pol. byssoides ; Mrs. Griffiths considers it as more like Pol. Brodicei. To us, it seems in a young fresh rosy Rhodomelece. ] POLYSIFHONIA. 283 state to come nearer Polysiphonia elongella, but it loses much of the resemblance when it is dried. It is very common in the island of Arran, and not uncommon on the coast of Ayrshire. 17. P. viola cea, Greville. Hab. On rocks and stones and Algae near low-water mark. Annual. May and June. Pirst discovered iu Britain by Mrs. Griffiths ; Falmouth, Miss Warren ; Carn- arvon, Mr. Ralfs; Plymouth, Mr. Rohloff; Belfast Lou eh, Dr. Drummond; Howth, Miss Gower; Kerry, Mr. Andrews; Roundstone, by Mr. MfCalla. Got occasionally on the coast of Ayrshire. I have some fine specimens from Mrs. Griffiths and Mr. Ralfs. See a 'beautiful figure of it in Phycologia Britannica, Plate ccix. 18. P. pi brata, Harvey. Hab. On rocks, shells, and Algae, near low- water mark. Annual. Summer and autumn. Common. It is articulated throughout, and the joints marked with two striae. At Ardrossan it is found abundantly on Chorda jilum at the mouth of the harbour, and, prepared when quite fresh, it makes a beautiful specimen. In fresh water it very soon decomposes. There is a fine figure of it in Phyc. Biit., Plate covin., and magnified specimens of three 284 British sea-weeds. [ Rhodospermea . kinds of fruit, ceramidia, tetraspores, and antheridia, the last of which, viz., antheridia, are often clustered round the tips of the branches, “crowning every branchlet with a tuft of golden fruit.” 13. P. pulvinata, Sprenff. Hab. On rocks in the sea, and in rock -pools. Annual. Mrs. Griffiths, Torbay ; Land’s End, Mr. Ralls ; Miltown Malbay, Professor Harvey ; Miss Gower, Balbriggan ; Mr. D. Moore, Port Stewart; Ardrossan, Major Martin; Salt- coats, D. L., junr. It resembles Polgsiphonia urceolata, in miniature. It is not only smaller but softer, and the branchlets are more closely crowded. See figure in Phyc. Brit., Plate cn. 20. P. urceolata, Greville. Hab. On rocks and on the stems of Laminaria digitata. Annual. Summer. Growing on Laminaria it becomes rigid when full grown, and does not adhere to paper in drying. What grows on rock, is with us less rigid, darker coloured, and decomposes more readily in fresh water. When growing on Laminaria the branchlets are often very squarrose, and in this state it has been called P. patens, but it is only a variety. See Phycologia Britaunica, Plate c lx vii. Rhodomeletf .~] POLYSIPHONIA. 285 21. P. FORMOSA, Su/ir. Hab. On rocks and Algse. Annual. Summer. Pound in England by Mrs. Griffiths, Mrs. Wyatt, Rev. W. S. Hore, Dr. Cocks, Dr. Jacob, Rev. R. Cresswell; in Ireland by Mr. W. Thompson, Miss Ball, Mr. Moore, Mr. M 'Call a; in Scotland, by Suhr, Orkney; Dr. Greville, Bute; Major Martin, Ardrossan ; Miss Mac Leish, Portincross. On the coast of Ayrshire it has chiefly been found growing on Halidrys siliquosa. It is a beautiful plant, much re- sembling Polysiphonia urceolata, but it is more graceful and delicate, and its colour is more rosy. 22. P. elongata, Gh'eville. Hab. In the sea, on stones, shells, and Algse. Biennial. Spring and summer. Stems robust, cartilaginous ; branches beset at the tips with slender tufted ramuli, which are attenuated at the base. It is very common and very variable. In its winter state it is stout and rigid, destitute of ramuli, the branches jointed like lobsters' horns. In early summer, when the capillary branches in rich tufts adorn the tips of the branches, it is a beautiful plant, especially when the tufts are of a fine rosy-red colour. 286 British sea-weeds. [ Tthodospermea . 23. P. elongella, Harvey. (Plate XIV. fig. 55, por- tion of the frond, natural size ; a, branchlet with capsules ; b, a branchlet with tetraspores, both magnified.) Iiab. On rocks and Algse ; rather rare. Biennial. Spring and summer. England, Mrs. Griffiths, Miss Cutler, Rev. W. S. Hore ; Ireland, Miss Ball, Miss Gower, Mrs. Apjohn, Mr. W. Thompson, Dr. Drummond, Mr. D. Moore, Mr. M'Calla; Orkney, Rev. Mr. Pollexfen ; Ardrossan, Major Martin; D. L., Saltcoats; by Miss PI. M. White, Jersey. This is one of the loveliest of our marine Algse. In early summer when arranged in its new attire with rich tufts of crimson ramuli, it is extremely attractive. These crimson tufts form a good contrast with the darker hue of the stems. The summer specimens we have got on the coast of Ayrshire are more beautiful than any we have seen, even from Devonshire. In winter it is rigid, and quite in undress. “ The winter and summer aspects of a deciduous tree are not more different from each other than are specimens of this beautiful plant collected at opposite seasons.” In winter the abundant pencils of rosy-red ramuli have all fallen away, and the rigid divaricating branches remain in their nakedness. It seems to be one of those that come by fits and starts. In the early part of the summer of 1847, Rhodomelece.~\ POLYSIPHONIA. 287 for nearly a month, it was frequent on the shore at Ardrossan and Saltcoats at almost every tide ; whereas in the summer of 1848 very few specimens were got. Professor Iiarvey says in Pliyc. Brit., Plate cxlvi., that though it resembles Polysiphonia elongatu in miniature, it may be readily known from it by the pellucid articulations visible in all parts of the plant, and by the ramuli not tapering to the base ; and in his Manual he tells us that it may easily be distinguished by the distinctly jointed branches, and by the parallel (not reticulated) veins which they contain. 23. P. byssoides, Grevitle. Hab. On rocks, &c., in the sea. Annual ? Summer and autumn. It is said to be abundant on the eastern and southern shores of England and Ireland; but rare in Scot- land and in the west of Ireland. We can state that during some seasons it is very frequent on the coast of Ayrshire. The time of the year when it is most abundantly got is in the month of August when it is driven out by the tide in large tangled masses, often intermingled with the beautiful zoophyte, Valkeria cmcuta. Neither are we sure that it is annual; for we have often got it in winter in small patches of a very dark hue, and stripped of almost all its pretty byssoid ramuli. When got fresh in summer it is of a fine 288 BRITISH SEA-IVEEDS. \Rhodosjjermeae. clear colour. It generally loses this when exposed to the air or put into fresh water and dried. Occasionally, however, it retains its clear red colour in drying. II e wish we could discover the secret for fixing this fine colour, as it adds much to the loveliness of this beautiful plant. There is a variety at times found both in An an and Ayr- shire in which the branches are opposite and horizontal, so that in form the specimens greatly resemble larch trees. This variety is generally of a darker hue than the common kind. Genus LXXXTV. DASYA, Agardh. Gen. Char. Frond filamentous ; the stem and branches mostly opake, irregularly cellular (rarely pellucid, longitudinally tubed), composed internally of numerous parallel tubes; the ramuli jointed, single-tubed. Fructification two-fold on dis- tinct plants ; 1, ovate capsules (ceramidia) furnished with a ter- minal pore, and containing a tuft of pear-shaped spores ; 2, lanceolate pods (stichidia) containing tetraspores ranged in transverse bands.— The name from a Greek word signifying hairy. — Harvey. 1. Dasya coccinea, Agardli. Hab. In the sea, frequent. Annual. Summer and autumn. Rhodomelece.~\ DASYA. 289 in England, Mrs. Griffiths, Professor Walker Arnottj in Ireland, Miss Hutchins ; in Bute and Frith of Forth, Dr. Greville; said to be rather rare in Scotland, but we do not think so. It is not equally abundant at every season ; but is generally frequent during summer and early autumn about Ardrossan, Troon, Ayr, Ballantrae, Portpatrick, in the island of Arran, island of C umbrae, and at Southend, Kintyre. The most beautiful specimens I ever saw were from Bal- lantrae. It it is thought to be annual. I question this, Vmg often S'ot P in winter. I found it on the 22nd of last December, full size, covered with China denticulata, and just coming into fruit, some of the red-tipped stichidia laving the granules quite formed. It is one of the most beautiful of our Algm on account of its fine crimson colour and feathery form. It is found here occasionally in its ]2?euS StatC; 111 WhlCh ^ °ne time ft WaS caUed Ceramkm There are very fine figures of it in Dillwyn's British Con- tervse, Plate xxxvi. He snv« • « , saJs- lew marine productions “ llC 1'1'CSe"t sPecies 111 beauty or frequent occurrence and none meets with more general admiration, or is more u 290 British sea-weeds. [ Ttlioclospermea . frequently gathered, and used in ornamental uevices by the female visitors on our shores.” 2. D. ocellata, Harvey. Hab. On mud-covered rocks in the sea. Rare. Annual. Summer. Discovered by Mrs. Griffiths on the pier at Tor- quay; Professor Walker Amott, Whitsand bay; Trevot, Rev. Mr. More ; in Ireland by Professor Harvey, Mr. Andrews, Mrs. Grey, Miss Gower. “ The specific name was no doubt intended by Grateloup to allude to the eye-like spots caused by the density of the ramuli at the tips of the branches. The branches resemble delicate feathers marked with an eyelet.” See Pliyc. Brit., Plate xl. 3. D. arbuscula, Agar (Mi. Hab. Rocks near low-water mark. Annual. Summer. A beautiful little plant. Rare in England. Not rare in Ireland, and said not to be rare in the west of Scotland ; but we have seen only one specimen which was got m Ayr- shire by Miss Mac Leisli. See beautiful figure, PI. ccxxxiv. Phycologia Britannica. I. D. venusta, Harvey, (nov.spec.) Hab. Cast on the shore. Annual. Summer and autumn. Rhoclomelea.l CHL0R0SKERMEA5. 291 Very rare. Discovered by Miss White and Miss Turner on the shores of Jersey. This is a plant of surpassing loveliness, and a great addi- tion to our marine flora. Dor an excellent description and figure I refer to Phycologia Britan nica, Plate ccxxv. Series III. CHLOROSPERMEEE. It is the mid-night hour : — the beauteous sea, Calm as the cloudless heaven, — the heaven discloses, While many a sparkling star in quiet glee. Far down within the watery sky reposes. As if the ocean’s heart were stirr’d With inward life, — a sound is heard, Like that of dreamer murmuring in his sleep ; ’Tis partly the billow and partly the air, That lies like a garment floating fair, Above the happy deep. Oh ! thou art harmless as a child, Weary with joy, and reconciled For sleep to change its play ; And now that night has stayed thy race, Smiles wander o’er thy pleased face, As if thy dreams were gay. Wilson’s Isle of Palms. 292 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. [ Chlorospermea . Family XVIII. SIPHONED. Genus LXXXV. CODIUM, Stackhouse. Gen. Char. Frond green, sponge-like (globular, cylindrical, or flat, simple, or branched), composed ol tubular, interwoven, inai- ticulate filaments. Fructification, opake vesicles attached to the filaments. — The name from a Greek word signifying the skin of an animal. — Greville. 1. Codium adHjERENS, Agar clli. Hab. On marine rocks. Perennial. Summer and winter. Pare. In England, Mrs. Griffiths, Mr. Palfs, Miss Warren, Mr. Peach ; in Ireland, Mr. E. Moore, and Mr. G. Ilvnd- man. See Phyc. Brit., Plate xxxv., A. 2. C. amphibium, Moore. Hab. On turf-banks at extreme high-water mark. Dis- covered by Mr. M'Calla near Roundstone bay. 3. C. Bursa, Agartlh. Hab. On rocks in the sea. Rare. In England, coast of Sussex, plentifully, Hollas, Turner; Cornwall, Mr. Rash- leigh ; Torquay, Mrs. Griffiths; Belfast, Mr. Templeton. See Dr. Greville’s excellent description, Algfe Britannic®, page 186. Siphonece. ] CODIUM. 293 4. C. tomentosum, Stackhouse. (Plate XVI. fig. 63) Hab. On rocks in the sea, and in rock-pools near liigh- water mark. Perennial. Said to be common on all the British shores ; but we do not think that it is so on the western shores of Scotland. My friend Dr. Curdie, now in Australia, sent it to me from the island of Gigha, off Ivin- tyre. We know that it was got by Mr. W. Thompson at Ballantrae, in Ayrshire. Dr. Greville mentions that it was found by Miss Hutchins in Iona. We procured it once in Arran betwixt Brodick and Corrie in a rock-pool ; but these are all the Scottish habitats that we know of. It is not beautiful, but it has an uncommon appearance, more like a sponge than an Alga. It clings so firmly to the rock that it requires some effort to detach it. I was gratified by finding Codium tomentosum which I had never before seen, except in a dried state ; but I was still more pleased with what I noticed upon it. On taking it out of the water, I observed a greenish gelatinous animal on it, which, without examination, I cast into the pool again, that it might continue to enjoy life. I afterwards saw two more, and observing that they were beautifully mottled with azure spots, I placed them in my vasculum, along with some branches of the Codium, and on afterwards putting them into 294 BRITISH SEA- WEEDS. [Chlorosperme a. a tumbler of sea water, I found that I bad got a rare and lovely mollusk, discovered by Col. Montagu on the coast of Devonshire, and described by him in the Transactions of the Linnaean Society. It was Actaon viridis, the Green Actaeon. This is not the place to describe it, but I have attempted to do so elsewhere* See instructive figures Alg. Brit., PI. xix., and Phyc. Brit., PI. xcm. Genus L XXXVI. BRYOPSIS, Lamour. Gen. Char. Proud membranaceous, filiform,- tubular, cylindri- cal, glistening, branched, the branches imbricated or distichous, and pinnated, filled with a fine green minute granuliferous fluid. —The name from two Greek words signifying the appearance of a moss. — Greville. 1. Bryopsis pltjmosa, Lam. (Plate XVI. fig. 64, froncb natural size, and a portion magnified.) Ilab. In the sea on stones and rocks, and in rock-pools. Annual. Summer. Scotland, England, and Ireland. ISot very common in Scotland. I first procured it at the Black rocks, Troon, in Ayrshire. I afterwards found at Saltcoats the largest and richest specimens I have ever met with. * Excursions to Arran, by the Author. Sipkonece .] BRYOPSIS. 295 Gathered by Mr. It. M. Stark at Joppa, near Edinburgh; in Arran by I). L., junr. This is one of the most attractive of our Algae. The colour is a rich glossy green ; the form is symmetrical, and resembles the feathers of a green parrot. The first uotice of this plant is by Hudson, in his Elora Anglica. See good figures of it in Algae Britannicse, Plate xix., and in Phyc. Brit., Plate in. ; the latter, though beautiful, is not glossy enough, and the green is lighter than in our Ayrshire specimens. 2. B. hypnoides, Lam. Iiab. In rock-pools near low-water mark, or on other Algae in deep water. Annual. Summer. Very abundant in the west of Ireland beyond tide mark on Laminaria saccharina. This is much rarer in Scotland than Bryopsis plumosa. Pound by Sir Wm. Jardine at South erness, Kirkcudbright; by Dr. Hasell, Prestonpans ; by Mr. B,. M. Stark at North Berwick ; and by Isabella Landsborough at Seamill, north of Ardrossan, in considerable abundance in rock -pools. It is more branchy, more slender, more flaccid, and of a yellower green than B. plumosa, and on the whole less beautiful. The specimens got at Seamill were fine large 296 buitish sea-weeds. [ Chlorospermea . ones., and comparing them with the excellent specimens of B. plumosa found at Saltcoats, I had no doubt at the time that they were distinct. The colour and the branching were very different ; the ramuli instead of being distichous, as in B. plumosa, were irregularly scattered, and proceeded from all sides of the filaments, having, in the water, a bushy appearance, like a fox’s tail. Afterwards, however, this opinion was considerably shaken, as I found the two run- ning into each other, so that I could not distinguish them. Genus LXXXYIL YAUCHEItIA, Be Candolle. Gen. Char. Fronds aggregated, tabular, continuous, capillary, coloured by an internal green pulverulent mass. Fructification, dark green, homogeneous vesicles ( coryocistce , Ag.) attached to the frond- Greville. — The name in honour of M. Voucher, a distin- guished naturalist, author of a standard work, Histoire des Con- ferees cl ’ eau douce. 1. Vaucheria submarina, Berk. 3. V . velutina, Agardh. 2. marina, Lyngbye. These three Vaucheria have been got only at Appin and in the south of England. See Harvey’s Manual of British Algm, page 147. . Confervece.~\ CLADOPI-IOllA. 297 Family XIX. CONFERVEaE. L’onda dal mar divisa Bagna la valle e ’1 monte ; Va passagiera in flume, Va prigioniera in fonte ; Mormora sempre, e geme, Pin elxe non toma al mar : — A1 mar, dov’ ella nacque, Dove acquisto gli umori, Dove da’ lunghi errori Spera cli riposar.— Metastasio, Artaserse* Genus LXXXYIII. CLADOPHORA, Kutzing. Gen. Char. Filaments green, jointed, attached, uniform, ranched. Fruit, aggregated granules or zoospores, contained Waters, from the ocean borne, Bathe the valley and the hill ; Prisoned in the fountain, mourn. Warble down the winding rill ; But wherever doomed to stray, Still they murmur and complain, Still pursue their lingering way, Till they join their native main. After many a year of woe, Many a long, long wandering past ; Where, at first they learned to flow, There they hope to rest at last. Beattie, Translation. 298 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. [ Cldorosperrneoi. iu the joints, having at some period, a proper ciliary motion. The name means Irancli-bearing, Conferva being retained for tht species with simple filaments. 1. Cladophora rupestris, Kiitzing. (PI. XA7II. fig. 67, branches, of natural size, and a branchlet, magnified.) Hab. On rocks in the sea, from high-water mark, and often beyond that. Annual. Summer. Very common and variable. Near high-water mark it is a plain- looking plant, closely tufted, and of a dirty greyish-green colour. V hen got m favourable circumstances, in deep rock-pools, or by dredging from deep water, it is truly a lovely plant, of a fine dark green. The only draw-back to it is that it does not adhere well to paper in drying ; and this, we doubt not, is the reason why this beautiful species is less frequently seen in collections than we might expect. 2. C. rectan gularis, Griffiths. (Plate XV IP fig. 68, plant, natural size ; to the right, at the bottom of the plate, there is a portion of a branch magnified.) Hab. In the sea, in deep water. Annual. Summer. Torquay, Mr. Borrer, Mrs. Griffiths j Galway, Air. Beilly ; it has not been found in Scotland; in England it is very rare, and it was thought to be so in Ireland, till it was Conferve<£.~\ CLAD OP II Oil A . 299 discovered by Mr. M'Calla in Boundstone bay in such abundance that it was carted away for manure. At the depth of four or five fathoms it covers the bottom to a con- siderable extent. It is about a foot long, and cannot be mistaken for any other species, being so easily known by its patent, opposite branches and branchlets. It is of a light green colour. It does not adhere well to paper in drying. See in Phycologia Britannica, PI. xii., a good figure of var. /3. with longer brandies. 3. C. pellucida, Kutzing. Ilab. On the bottom and sides of deep rock-pools near low-water mark. Annual? Summer. Not uncommon on the shores of England and Ireland. We do not know that it has been iound in Scotland. I have a specimen of it from Mr. William Thompson. It is a well-marked species, as may be seen from Phyc. Brit., Plate clxxiv. 4. C. lax os a, Kutzing . (Plate XVII. fig. 65, two fine tufts, natural size ; and on the right hand a portion of a filament, magnified.) Ilab. In the sea on rocks and on other Algae. Annual. Summer. Common. 300 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. [i Chbrospermece . The best specimens for the Herbarium are got on Zoster a marina. See a fine figure of it in Phycologia Britannica, Plate vi. 5. C. arcta, Kutzing. (Plate XVII. fig. 66, tufts, of the natural size ; and on the left a portion of a filament mag- nified.) Ilab. On rocks from half-tide level to low-water mark. It is questioned whether it is perennial; I am disposed to think that it is annual. It is very abundant in spring and summer, and the young plants on account of then lively green, and the fine silky, silvery gloss towards their tips are exceedingly attractive. So early as the 5th of March this year, I gathered beautiful tufts of it at Ardrossan. When dried in this young state it adheres well to paper, and long retains its glistering appearance at the tips; whereas, when more advanced, it loses its fine colour at the base, and soon ceases to glister in the Herbarium. By the end of summer it is seldom seen, and when found, is so coarse and faded that few would think of retaining it. . C. arcta is now understood to include C. V aucheria/ormis as its young, am C centralis as its old state. Substance, when young, tender and flaccid ; when old it does not adhere well. See good figures of it, older and younger, in Phycologia Britannica, Plate cxxxv. Confervea.~\ CLADOPHORA. 301 6. C. Hutchinsle, Harvey. Hab. On rocky bottoms of clear tide-pools. Annual. Summer. Rather rare. Bantry bay. Miss Hutchins ; Larne, Dr. Drummond ; Tor Abby, Mrs. Griffiths ; Belfast bay, Air. Wm. Thompson; Salcombe, Mr. Ralfs ; Ardrossan, Major Martin; Saltcoats, IsabeUa Landsboroush. o A beautiful species, discovered in Ireland by Miss Hut- chins, whose name is held in grateful remembrance in all parts of the world. See a fine figure of this species in Phycologia Britannica, Plate cxxiy. 7. C. iaetevirens, Kiitzing. Hab. On rocks and on other Alga: at low-water mark, and near high-water mark. Annual. Summer. Common. It is fiecpient in the early part of the summer, on the coast of Ayrshire. Professor Harvey seems to think that it is the same as C. glomemta, but he yields to Airs. Griffiths, who is of a different opinion. 8. C. gracilis, Griffiths. Hab. On rocks and Alga:. Common on the coast of Ayrshire in early summer, on Alga:; colour, a yellowish green, becoming paler in the Herbarium, but retaining a silky gloss. s See a fine figure, Phycologia Britannica, Plate XVIII. 302 BRITISH SEA- WEEDS. \Chlorosjtermece. 9. C. refract a, Kiitzing. Hab. In rocky pools near low-water mark, or in deeper water. Annual. Summer. Kilkee, Professor Harvey; Ilfracombe, Mrs. Griffiths ; Mounts Bay, Mr. Ralfs ; Cork, Miss Ball ; Howth, Miss Gower ; Giants’ Causeway, Mr. W. Thompson; D. L., Saltcoats. See a beautiful figure of it in Phycologia Britannica, Plate XXIV. The green is darker in specimens found on the coast of Ayrshire. Our limits compel us to give only the names of the fol- lowing, for the descriptions of which I refer to Professor Harvey’s Manual of British Algae, and to his Phyc. Brit. 10. C. Brownii, Harv. 15. C. Budol/phiana, Kiitz. 11. — Macallana, id. 16. albida, Iluds. 12. __ diffusa, Kiitz. 17. — nncialis, Harv. * 13. __ nuda, Harv. 13. — glaucescens, Griffiths. 14. — flexuosa, Dillw. * 19. — falcate , Harv. Genus LXXXVIII. RIIIZOCLONIUM, Kiitzing. Gen Char. Filaments green, jointed, uniform, decumbent, simple or spuriously branched. Fructification, granules con- tained in the cells. — Name from the root-like form of the branches. — Harvey. Confervece.\ CONFERVA. 303 1. Bhizoclonium riparium, Kiitzing. Hab. Sand-covered rocks near high-water mark. Annual. Genus XC. CONFERVA, Plin. Gen. Char. Filaments green, jointed, attached or floating unbranched. Fructification, aggregated granules or zoospores contained in the joints, having at some period a proper ciliary motion. — Harvey. 1. Conferva tortuosa, Diilwyn. (PL XVIII. fig. 69, plant natural size, and under it one of the filaments, mag! nilied.) Hab. On submarine rocks; also in salt pools. Mr. Diilwyn at Swansea; Prof. Walker Arnott, and Dr. Greville Frith of Forth; Professor Harvey, Skerries ; D. L., Saltcoats! 3. G. Melagonium, Web. and Mohr. (PI. XVIII. fig. 70 filaments, natural size; and to the right, a portion of a fikJ ment, magnified.) Hab. On rocks near low-water mark. On the coast of Ayrshire it is found at mid-tide level, and it is so rigid that it stands erect when left by the tide It is not common, though widely dispersed. o. G. terea, Diilwyn. Hab. On sand-covered rocks at mid- tide level. 304* BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. [ Chlorospeimeoi . This resembles the preceding, but it is smaller, less rigid, and of a yellower green. They are well figured together in Phycologia Britannica, Plate xcix., 4*. C. linum, Both. Hab. In salt water ditches near the coast. This species has usually been called C. crassa, but it is now found that C. linum and ctcissci are the same. AVc have got it abundantly in brackish water ditches at Troon. See it and C. sutoria figured together in Phycologia Britan- nica, Plate cl. Pamily XX. TJ L V ACErE. Before me lay the sea ; Broad heaving billows murmur’d carelessly, O’er wave-rib’d sands, with lulling peaceful sound ; While snow-white sea-gulls sailed athwart the sky. The aii- was motionless, till gentle breeze Sprang up at sunset ; yet huge lumbering waves Rolled iu from distant storm —wild— musical ! Wave — music. — Symington’s Harebell Chimes. Genus XCI. PORPHYRA, Agardh. Gen. Char. Frond plane, exceedingly thin, and of a purple colour. Fructification, 1, scattered sori of oval seeds; 2, Ulvacea;.~\ PORPHYRY. 305 roundish granules, mostly arranged in a quaternate manner, and covering the frond. — Grevitte. 1. Porphyry lacixiata, Agardh. (Plate XIX. fig. 75 frond, natural size.) Hab. On rocks within tide-marks. Annual. From spring till the end of autumn ; indeed, though not m abundance, it is to be found here during all the winter. liese winter specimens are very dark -coloured, and do not adhere to paper in drying. It has been stated that owing to the shrinking of the delicate fronds, this fine plant does not at any time adhere well to paper ; by proper management none adheres better, and the mode of effecting it we shall State at the end of this volume, when giving directions for preserving Algie for the Herbarium. In substance it is very thru and membranaceous, and children call it sea-HlH It vaiaes much in colour ; the most general is the bluish purple, in the elegant specimen in Phyc. Brit., Plate xen As got with us a out Ardrossan and Saltcoats, it is a dark- light !l T, Sea' and *jing becomes a very ■ g le most beautiful specimens I have seen of ^ound by Miss Mac Leish in the Clyde, at Pori Glasgow i m drying they became a rich pinky red ; this X 0Q0 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. [ ChlorOSpBTW.COi . colour might be owing to the copious intermixture of fresh water so far from the sea. This species, along with the succeeding, is brought to table in England and Scotland under the name of Laver ; in Ireland it is called Slake. We have tried it, but though like greens, under the simple cooking of our cuisimere , it had too great a smack of the sea for our taste. I nder proper treatment, however, we believe that it can be rendered a grateful luxury. It requires many hours’ stewing to render it sufficiently tender. Lightfoot mentions that “the inhabitants of the Western Islands gather it in the month of March, and after pounding, and stewing it with a little water, eat it with pepper, vinegar, and butter; others stew it with leeks or onions. In England it is generally pic v tc with salt, and preserved in jars, and when brought to table, is stewed, and eaten with oil and lemon-juice.” Professor Harvey, in Phycologia Britannica, says: “After many hours’ boiling, the frond is reduced to a somewhat slimy pulp, of a dark brown colour, which is eaten with pepper and lemon-juice or vinegar, and has an agreeable flavour to those who have conquered the repugnance to taste it, which its great ugliness induces, and many persons are very fond of it. It might become a valuable article of diet, in the Ulvacece.~\ POItPHYIiA. 307 absence of other vegetables, to the crews of our whaling vessels sailing in high latitudes, where every marine rock at half-tide abundantly produces it. In its prepared state it may be preserved for an indefinite time in closed tin vessels.” We regard this as a valuable hint. 2. P. vulgaris, Agar dh. Hab. On rocks and stones, between tide-marks. Com- mon. Except that the frond is undivided, this species does not seem to differ from P. laciniata. It is more elegant in form, and sometimes the colour is livelier. It approaches in shape the frond of Laminaria phyllitis. It is from one to two feet in length, and from two lines to two or three inches m breadth. Professor Harvey, who expressed doubts m the Manual of the distinctness of P. linearis as a species, gives now in Phycologia his decided opinion that that it is only a narrow-fronded variety of P. vulgaris in a young State; that though in November they appear distinct enough, by the end of spring it will be difficult to trace in them the slender ribbons of winter. lie admits that there are localities near high-water mark where the frond never attains any great length or breadth, and therefore remains more true to the name linearis, but the stunted growth is 308 buitish sea-weeds. [ Cldorospermetz . clearly referable to deficient nourishment. All this may be correct, but I am not thoroughly convinced; and I am unwilling to give up the pretty little linearis. It appears to me more distinct as a species than P. lacimata ; and this, perhaps, is not saying much, for with ns P. vulgaris and P. lacimata run very close into each other. Vht 1 us they are of the same colour, and this cannot be said of P. linearis, which is always different from both the others; these two are never reddish here, and linearis always is. P. linearis, for many miles on the coast of Ayrshire, is got only on one little patch of rock in early spring, painting it red when the tide is out; P. vulgaris is found at the same season quite near it, as near high-water mark, almost as narrow as linearis, but nearly a foot long, which is moie than the length of linearis ; and while linearis is always red, vulgaris at that season is a pale yellow, the one continuing red and the other yellow, when dried. P. vulgaris may be got in abundance during the summer, becoming light olive when fully grown. By the middle of April every frond of linearis ijvani M and not one of the little pink *£»» seen on the rocks till the succeeding spring. Tlieie mod figures of P. mlgam and P. Uneam in 1 hvco log.. Britannica, Hate COB. With us, however, they are bo Ulvacece.'] BANGIA. 309 much more glossy ; and P. vulgaris, especially early in the season, is as light, and even more yellowish than Laminaria phyllitis. I see that Dr. Greville, in Alg. Brit., says that the different arrangement of the granules precludes P. linearis from being regarded as being a miniature of either of the other two. Genus XCII, BANGIA, Lyngbye. Gen. Char. Frond flat, capillary, membranaceous, of a green, reddish, or purple colour. Fructification, granules arranged more or less m a transverse manner.— Named Bangui, in honour of Hoffman Bang. — Greville. 1. Bangia fusco-purpurea, Lyngb. Hab. On rocks and planks of wood in the sea. Annual. Spring and summer. Brighton, Mr. Borrer; Cornwall, Mr. Bashleigh; Bantry bay. Miss Hutchins; Frith of lorth, Professor Walker Arnott; Isle of Bute, Dr. Greville; Isle of Arran, D. L., junr. ; Portincross, Ayrshire, Major Martin. Fronds growing in a tufted manner, and generally covering a considerable extent of rock; colour, a fine dark purple which it retains in drying ; A curious circumstance 310 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. \ChloTOSJ)CT1M(B . is, that it is found in beauty both in the sea and in fresh water rivers. It is generally thought that this plant is rare in Scot- land. We were once of that opinion, but have since had reason to think that we had been treading upon it every spring without observing it. When the tide is out, it clings so closely to the rocks that it may be passed without notice. Now that it has been detected, it may be seen every April and May at Saltcoats in great abundance on flattish rocks, and also on the face of perpendicular rocks near high-water mark. I first procured it at Saltcoats in a rock-pool near the mouth of the harbour; Major Martin finds it of a very dark purple at Portincross. Genus XCIII. ENTEROMORPHA, Link. Gen Char Frond tubular, hollow, membranaceous, of a o-reen colour, and reticulated structure. Fructification, three or four roundish granules aggregated in the reticulations. 1 e name signifies in the form, of an entrail. 1. Enteromorehaintestinalis,!^. (PI. XVIII. f. 72.) Hab. In the sea, and also in brackish and fresh-water ditches. Annual. Summer. Common. Ulvacecek] ENTEROMORPHA. 311 It varies in length and breadth ; sometimes short and narrow, at other times two feet long and three inches in diameter. It is always simple, whereas E. compressa is branched. It changes from pale green to yellow, and be- comes white in decay. The most interesting specimens I ever got of this plant might be regarded as subfossil. They were found in a sand- stone quarry at Ardeer, Ayrshire, about a mile from the sea. When the quarriers had removed about sis feet of earth, they came to a thick stratum of shale, which was perforated in many places, and in the mouth of the bore which was about an inch in diameter, I generally found a pretty entire specimen of P kolas crispata, the very same kind of mollusk that I had often seen boring the shale in the sea at Salt- coats. The perforation was about six inches deep, and at the bottom of the bore there was in all cases a matted pellet of vegetable substance. On macerating this, it spread, and I saw by its puckerings and reticulations that it was Enteromorpha inlestinalis. I sent it to Sir William Hooker and he said that it was correctly named. See a fine figure of this plant in Phycologia Britannica, Plate cliv. 2. E. compressa, Greville. (Plate XYI. fig. 62) Hab. Rocks in the sea. Annual. Spring and summer. 312 British sea-weeds. [ Chlorospermece . Very common. Very variable in length and breadth. By comparing the fine figure of the preceding in Phycologia with an excellent figure of this species by Dr. Greville in Ala-. Brit., PI. xix., or our own, it will be seen that there is considerable similarity ; both are green, but this one is a darker green ; both are attenuated towards the base, and both are rounded at the top ; but the former is always simple, and this one is more or less branched. In drying, it does not adhere well to paper. When it decays it be- comes purely white, and in this state children call it sea- thread. 3. E. erecta, HooTcer. (Plate XVIII. fig. 71, plant, natural size, with a branch on the left, magnified.) Plab. In the sea, about half-tide level. Annual. Spring and summer. Appin, Capt. Carmichael; Bute and Pritli of Eorth, Dr. Greville ; Torquay, Mrs. Griffiths. This is one of the finest of the Enter omor plus, when from deep water. There are several other Enteromorpha, but the most distinguished botanists are of opinion that they are varieties of one species. “Eew plants,” says Professor Harvey, in his Manual, “are so sportive in size and ramifi- cation, and if all the varieties were described, the species Titrh lift! R. 3 i-B -J Ulvacece.~\ ULVA. 313 might easily be multiplied till we should have one for almost every marine pool ! ” Genus XCIY. ULYA, Linnceus. Gen. Char. Frond membranaceous, of a green colour (in some cases saccate, and inflated in the young state). Fructifica- tion, minute granules mostly arranged in fours. Greville. — The name from the Celtic word, id, water. 1. Ulva latissima, Linn. (Plate XIX. fig. 73.) Hab. On rocks and stones in the sea. Annual. To be got, however, more or less during all the winter. Fronds from 4-18 inches long, and of considerable breadth, of an oblong shape, and waved at the edges. It is tender in substance, of a deep green colour. It adheres well to paper in drying in the early part of the season, the shading pro- duced by the waved margin adding to the beauty of the speci- mens. It is called oyster -green, because employed to cover oysters. It is also called green laver, as it is employed for culinary purposes when Porphyra cannot be procured, but it is not thought to be so good as that. I learn from Mr. Fleming, Rector of the Academy at Kirkcudbright, that both Porphyra and Ulva latissima grow in the Dee there so 314 British sea-weeds. [Chlorospermece. far up tlie river tliat according to the tide, they are alter- nately inhabitants of sea-water and fresh-water. 2. U. lactdca, Linnceus. Hab. On rocks, &c., in the sea. Annual. Spring and summer. Pretty common. Devonshire ; Bute ; Ayrshire. At first it is saccate, but soon bursts and becomes cleft. It is much tenderer than the former, of a lighter green, and a little gelatinous, so that it adheres well to paper in drying. Dr. Greville, in Alg. Brit., says: “ it adheres so closely to paper as to resemble a drawing, and the surface shines as if varnished. When preserved in the Herbarium, it is infinitely more beautiful than TJlva laiissivia. This is not according to our experience in the west ; for in my opinion XI. latissima forms the handsomest specimen, being of a richer, darker green, and more glossy than U. laduca, adhering nearly as well when young and recent. See Phycologia Britannica, Plate ccxliii. 3. U. linz a, Linnmis. Hab. Bocks and stones in the sea, between tide-marks. Annual. Summer and autumn. This is a most beautiful and truly elegant plant. The fronds are linear-lanceolate, attenuated at each extremity, and curled, and waved at the margin. It is very graceful Oscillatoriece.'] CALOTHRIX. 315 in its native element, and scarcely less so in the Herbarium, when well prepared. The shadings produced by the plaiting of the curled margin in drying, add much to the beauty of the plant. In early summer it is of a rich lively green, with a fine gloss, adhering well to paper. In the end of summer the green has become darker, and it is still glossy, but does not adhere well to paper. The substance is thin, and com- posed of two closely-united membranes. It is at times eighteen inches in length, and an inch in breadth. It grows in clusters of more than a dozen fronds. See Phycologia Britannica, Plate xxxix. Without following further Professor Harvey’s systema- tically arranged List, I shall in the close mention a few plants that are not included in his catalogue. Genus XCY. CALOTHRIX, Ag. Gen. Char. Filaments destitute of a mucous layer, erect, tufted, or fasciculate, fixed at the base, somewhat rigid, without oscillation. Tube continuous ; endochrome green, densely an- nulated, at length dissolved into lenticular sporidia. — The name 316 British sea-weeds. \Chlorospermea. signifying beautiful hair, the filaments being very slender and delicate. — Harvey. 1. Calothrix coxeerwicola, Agar dh. Hab. On marine Algae. This is very common on sea-weecls of the smaller kinds, giving them a bluish-green hue, only a line or two high, and forming scattered or continuous tufts. There aie up- wards of a dozen species of Calothrix, some of which are rare, and some are found in fresh water. See Phyc. Brit., Plates lviii. and lxxvi. Genus XCVI. BIVULABIA, Roth. Gen. Char. Prond globose, or lobed, rarely incrusting, fleshy or gelatinous, firm, composed of continuous inarticulate filaments, annulated within, and surrounded by, or set in, gelatine. Harvey. — The name is in allusion to the fresh-water habitats of many of the species. Many, however, are found in the sea. 1. Bivularia atra, Roth. Hab. On rocks, stones, corallines, and Algae, between tide-marks. Perennial. Very common. It is probable that many have observed it without sup- posing that it was a plant. In some localities a person can sarcely take up a handful of Corallina officinalis without Oscillatoriea\ LYNGBYA. 317 having on it more than one specimen of R. atm, like little hemispherical masses of dark green jelly. By the application of a powerful lens it may be seen that these little green pea-like masses are organic, and are made up of filaments radiating from the centre. Each one when greatly magni- fied is not unlike a handsome switch the upper half of which is nicely knotted. See Phycologia Britannica, PI. ccxxxix. Genus XCVII. LYNGBYA, Agardh. Gen. Char. Filaments destitute of a inncous layer, free, flexible, elongated, continuous, decumbent. Eudochrome (green or puiple) densely annulated, and finally separating into lenticular sporidia. — Name in honour of Ii. C. Lyngbye, author of an ex- cellent work on the Algae of Denmark. — Harvey. 1. Lyngbya Cabmichaelii, Harvey. Ilab. On marine rocks, and on Fuel. Appiu, Captain Carmichael ; Torbay, Mrs. Wyatt; D. L., Saltcoats. It is very common here. As early as the month of April it covers the rocks, almost at high-water mark with a dense fleece of dark green filaments, lying flat during ebb, but waving gracefully in the water when the tide returns. See Phycologia Britannica, Plate clxxxvi, A. 318 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. \_Diatomacece. Genus XCYIII. STEI ATE LEA, Agardh. Gen. Cliar. Stipes very short, filaments curved, pellucid at the articulations, striated transversely. — It takes its name from the striated joints. 1 . Striatella archata, Agardli. Hab. On marine filiform Algse ; on the coast of Ayrshire this is is very common, especially in spring, almost covering the plant on which it grows, and often giving it a greenish tint. When dry, this parasitic coat has a glistering metallic cast. Genus XCIX. ISTHMIA, Agardh. 1. Isthmia OBLIQUA, Agardh. Hab. On filiform Algae. Frequent on the shores of England and Ireland j we know not that it has been found in Scotland. We have numerous fine specimens of it from Mrs. Lyon, gathered by her on the shore at Glenarm, where it seems very abundant, rendering Tolysiphonia nigrescens quite hoary. The filaments are composed of oblique-angled frustules, curling up in a curious manner ; and when seen through a lens, each portion is elegantly reticulated. Fragilariece. ] EXILARIA. 319 Genus C. DIATOMA. Gen. Char. Filaments composed of rectangular frustules, cohering at the angles, and finally separating. 1. Diatoma mahinum, Lyngbye. Hab. Parasitic on marine Algae in spring. Greenish when fresh; powdery and pale when dry. Common in most places, but rare on the coast of Ayrshire, where its place is occupied by Striatella. Genus Cl. EXILARIA, Greville. Gen. Char. Frustules rectilinear, fasciculate, or spreading in fan-shaped senes, fixed at the base to a receptacle or stipes — Greville. 1. Exilaiua eulgexs, Greville. Hab. Parasitic on marine filiform Algae. Devonshire, Mrs. Griffiths; Appin, Capt. Carmichael; Arran and Ayr- shire, D. L. ; Leith, D. L„ junr. Frustules pale yellow lustre when recent, with a glossy lustre when dry. They radiate from a minute base, in a fan-shaped manner. 320 BRITISH SEA-WBEDS. [ Diatomacea . Genus CII. LICMOPHOBA, Greville. Gen. Char. Frustules wedge-shaped, united into fan-shaped laminae, fixed to the summit of a (usually branched) stipe. — The name is from two Greek words signifying fan-bearer, highly expressive of the form ot these minute but beautiful objects. Hooker. 1. Licmopiioua elabellata, Greville. Ilab. On marine Algse. Ban try bay. Miss Hutchins ; Appin, Capt. Carmichael ; Devonshire, Mrs. Griffiths ; An- trim, Mr. D. Moore ; Strangford Lough, Mr. W. Thompson; Portincross, Ayrshire, D. L. Tufts half an inch high, deep green when recent (with us very light greyish green); when dry, grey and glistering. Dr. Greville'’ s figure of this interesting plant is thought remarkably goood. 2. L. splendlda, Greville. Hab. Parasitic on marine Algse, and on Zostera marina. Appin, Capt. Carmichael. “ A very fine species, nearly allied to L. fiabellata, but smaller, less divided, and the frustules more broadly wedge- shaped. The tufts are two or three lines in height, and often invest the whole surface of the plant on which it grows,” Grev. This plant had not been found by any Styllariea ?.] licmophoka. 321 since its discovery at Appin by Capt. Carmichael, til] it was got m considerable abundance by D. L, junr., in September ISIS, at low water mark in a little creek formed by trap dykes, in the parish of Ardrossan. When he brought it to me, I was much struck with its beauty. Hoping that it was . splenclida I sent it to Dr. Greville, and was gratified by his pronouncing it to be that rare plant. Though minute it is well deserving of the name of splendid; it is like an assemblage of hundreds of beautiful little fans. Had I believed m the existence of fairies as firmly as I did in my childish years, I could have imagined that some marine Queen Mab, and all the ladies of her court, were congre- gated amidst the branchlets and filaments of the little Alga. “Matenem. superabat opus:” every fan was of exquisite wor manship. Raised on a little stem, they were spread out so as to form in some cases more than a semi-circle he rays numbering from ten to twenty-six. Each ray or rustule was wedge-shaped, and a little denticulated at the top ; the upper part was amber-coloured, and as each ray had a lighter coloured dot in the middle of this portion, these right dots formed a crescent of sea-gems, adorning the fan. nder this amber-coloured portion there was a pellucid band, the lower part of the fan being amber-coloured, like 322 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. 323 the upper. Aided by a microscope, the whole was so beau- tiful that a lady to whom I shewed a portion of Licmophom thus magnified, said she could not fall asleep for a long time that night, as the lovely fans seemed ever before her eyes ; and when she did sleep she dreamed of them. What adds to the wonders of these Diatomacece, is that they are partly formed of flint, which they extract from the waters, so that though seemingly frail, they are imperishable ! Genus CIII. SCHIZONEMA, Agardh. Gen Char. Frustules in longitudinal series or scattered, and inclosed within a simple or branched, gelatinous or membrana- ceous frond, composed of one or several tubes.— 1 he name from two Greek words signifying to divide, and a thread as the typical species are formed as it were by dividing the frond.— Haivey. 1. Schizonema obtusum, Greville. Hab. Parasitic on small Algm m the sea. Erith of 1 ortli, Dr. Greville; Appin, Captain Carmichael; Torquay, Mrs. Griffiths ; coast of Antrim, Mr. D. Moore ; Leith, D. L., junr. 2. S. HELMINTHOSTJM, C/ldUV. I-Iab. On rocks in the sea. Erith of Eortli, Dr. Grevil e ; Torquay, Mrs. Griffiths; Saltcoats, D. L. 323 I1 EES II- WATER ALGEE. Let us then consider the works of God, and observe the operations of his hands; let us take notice of, and admire his infinite wisdom and goodness in the formation of them : no creature in this sublunary world is capable of so doing besides man, and yet we are deficient herein. We content ourselves with the knowledge of the tongues, or a little skill in philosophy, or history perhaps, and antiquity, and neglect that which to me seems more material,— I mean Natural History, and the works of the Creator. I do not discom- mend or derogate from those other studies; I should betray mine own igno- rance and weakness should I do so : I only wish that they might not altogether jostle out and exclude this. I wish that this might be brought in fashion among us; I wish men would be so equal and civil as not to disparage ende, and vilify those studies which themselves skill not of, or are not con- versant in. No knowledge can be more pleasant than this, -none that doth so satisfy and feed the sold, in comparison whereto that of words and phrase- seems to me insipid and jejune.— May. Though the limited size of this work will scarcely permit us enter on this department, we cannot think of finishing the volume without describing a few of the fresh-water Algae. Many may wish to learn something of Algology who are at a distance from the sea, and have no opportunity of collecting sea-plants in a recent state. It is well to let such -now that fresh-water Algology opens up for them a wide eld, which ol late has been very successfully cultivated by British botanists. In 1845 we were favoured by Mr. Ilassall y 2 324 FRESH-WATER ALG/E. witli an excellent work on the History of British fresh- water Algae, in two volumes, one of letter-press and the other of plates ; and in 1848 we have had another admirable work by Mr. Ealfs, on British Desmidiese, in one handsome volume, containing accurate descriptions and exquisite illus- trations, in thirty-five plates. To these two works we refer those who devote themselves to this study ; but as mam may not be disposed to purchase costly works, however excellent, till they know something of what they contain,— without attempting to treat of fresh-water plants at all systematically, we shall describe a few as a kind of sample of the rich stores within the reach of the naturalist, how ev er remote from the sea. One reason, no doubt, why these plants are not more generally studied, is that they are so minute that their beauty cannot be seen by the unaided eye. Even m the case of those whose filaments may be some feet in length, and which cannot fail to be seen, as they grow in masses of considerable breadth, the filaments are so densely crowded that instead of being regarded as plants they are looked upon as some green impurity, which in Scotland goes under the general name of slaalc. When a small portion, however, of tins despised slaak is taken, and laid on talc, and examined FKESII-WATER ALGiE. 325 by the aid of a microscope, or even a hand lens, the person who thus beholds it will be filled with astonishment; he will see that what he regarded as shapeless filth, is of exqui- site workmanship, and worthy of the Hand by which it was made , and ne may learn that what he thought worse than useless, instead of polluting the waters, is one great cause of their purity and wholesomeness ; that without these Algaj the waters would soon become so putrid and poisonous as to spread malaria over wide districts of country, and lay them desolate. But these are not the only purposes they serve. They afford shelter to countless myriads of living creatures, espe- cially infusorial animalcules, which not only enjoy life, but minute though they be, and unseen by man, — perform wonderful functions for his benefit. They are found most abundantly in all stagnant waters : “ Where the pool Stands mantled o’er with green, invisible Amid the floating verdure, millions stray.” By placing a drop of water in the field of the microscope and observing the merry evolutions of its multitudinous in- habitants, we see that He who made them blessed them with happiness. It has been long known also, that by 326 FRESH-WATER ALGJE. subsisting on the dead bodies of larger aquatic animals, they “ thus limit,” according to Liebig, “ to the shortest possible period, the deleterious influences which the pro- ducts of dissolution and decay exercise upon the life of the higher classes of animals.” “ The recent discoveries,” he adds, “ which have been made respecting these creatures, are so extraordinary, and so admirable, that they deserve to be made universally known.” The most remarkable fact in these discoveries is that the functions of animal life are reversed in these animalcules, and that instead of evolving carbonic acid gas, as, by breathing, other animals do, they evolve pure oxygen."^ The air -bubbles given out bt water in which these animalcules abound, contain such pure oxygen that a small bit of deal match-wood in which a flame has just been extinguished, will burst into a flame again on being immersed in any one of them. “ I myself, sai s the distinguished German chemist, “ took au opportunity of verifying this remarkable fact upon finding in a trough of water in my garden the fluid coloured green by the presence of various species of infusoria. I filtered it through a very fine sieve in order to separate all Conferva:, or vegetable * See “ Blights of the Wheat and their Remedies,” published by the Religious Tract Society. FRESH-WATER ALGtE. 327 matters ; and then exposed it to the light of the sun in an inverted broken glass, completely full, the aperture of which was confined by water. After the lapse of a fortnight, more than thirty cubic inches of gas had collected in the glass, which proved to be very rich oxygen.” In the most extensively diffused animalcules, then, namely the green and red infusoria, we recognise a most admirable cause, which removes from water all substances injurious to the life of the higher classes of animals ; and creates in their place nutritive matters for the sustenance of plants, and the oxygen indispensable to the respiration of animals. We see then that the benignant purposes of God towards man are answered not only by the fresh-water Algte, but what is more extraordinary and had never been sus- pected till discovered by science, that the functions of animal nature are reversed in the millions of millions of unseen creatures that dwell among these weeds, that they may all be made subservient to the well-being of man. After this digression respecting these animalcules, which I have often admired without thinking that in their sportive movements they were contributing to the happiness of the human race, we shall turn our attention for a little to some of the fresh-water Alga), amidst which they are so 328 fresh-water alga:. \Chlorospermea. plentifully found. We shall select some that are by no means rare, and whose beauty is very evident, even to the naked eye. We begin with one which may be found in almost every stream in all places of our land. CLADOPHORA, Linnaeus. Gen. Char. Filaments rising from a scutate root, finely tufted, bushy, somewhat rigid, bright green, branches crowded, hiegulai, erect ; the ultimate ramuli secund, subfasciculate ; articulations 4-8 lines longer than broad. — Harvey's Manual. 1. Cladophora glomerata, Linnaus. (PI. XX. fig. 7S, portion of the frond, natural size ; and on the left a branchlet, magnified.) Hah. In clear streams, wells, &c. It is very common, attaching itself to stones and sticks in streams and pure ponds. It is a remarkably variable plant. I remember finding a beautiful variety of it in the pool of a little cascade at King’s cove, Arran. The filaments were simple, not tufted, of a fine delicate texture, and having, when dried, a soft, silky, glossy appearance, such as Cladophora gracilis often has. The most beautiful specimens of it I ever saw were ConferveaJ] CLADOPHORA. 329 found by D. L., junr., at Corriegills in Arran in the month of September. They were quite of the normal type, beauti- fully tufted, of a lively green, and retaining all their beauty when dried. The time for getting it in greatest beauty is in early summer, when it is in a young state, or in the autumn, when it sometimes assumes a fresh dress after the scorching heat of summer. Hassall, in his British Fresh-water Alga;, says : Notwithstanding that its usual resort is the stream and the waterfall, it will flourish and increase in size amazingly for weeks and months in a vessel, the water of which is occa- sionally renewed. I have thus kept it for many weeks, removing (when by its growth it had filled the vessel,) all but a small portion of it ; this, however, speedily increased, and again filled its dwelling-place. The tearing away of portions of the plant in no way impaired the vitality of the remainder, as from its aggregation of minute cells, each the analogue of the other, might a priori, have been conjectured. After the species has been confined for some time, if it be examined with a glass, very many of the filaments will be found to be increased with numerous smaller filaments. These are the young of the plant derived from the grow-th of zoospores which have attached themselves to the parent 330 FRESH-WATER ALGAE {ClllorOSpemieCB. filaments. It was the occurrence of a specimen thus in- fested, that induced Vaucher to place this species in his genus Prolifer a” It is often covered with a parasite, Diatoma vulgare, giving it a rich brown instead of its natural rich green colour. VAUCHERIA, Be Candolle. Gen. Char. Fronds aggregated, tubular, continuous, capillary, coloured by an internal green pulverulent mass. Fructification, dark-green homogeneous vesicles ( concocystce , Ag.), attached to the frond. — The name in honour of M. Yauclier, a distinguished writer on Fresh-water Conferva. — Greville. This is a very natural and well-defined genus of plants. The structure of the frond is like that of Bryopsis and Codium, hut there is no appearance of reticulation or cells. It resembles the Conferva, in general appearance, and it is found along with them in ditches and little waterfalls, and on damp ground. Common as Vaucheria are, they are very remarkable plants, and the investigation of them afforded great delight to the intelligent mind of Vaucher. Then power of resisting cold, and of sustaining high degrees of temperature is very extraordinary, hi. Vaucher mentions Siphonece.\ VAUC1IERIA. 331 that when he was making his experiments at Geneva, an intense frost set in, and froze the water in a vase, in which his Vaucheriee were kept. The frost continuing for a fortnight, he feared that as they were enveloped in ice all that time, they would be completely destroyed ; but when thaw came, he found, to his great delight, that they had sustained no injury; and he had the satisfaction of seeing the grains germinating, as if they had never known frost. Were not this power granted to them, and especially to the seeds, they would soon be exterminated, as every winter they are frozen for weeks together. Their power of with- standing great heat is scarcely less remarkable, and not less necessary for the continuance of their existence. A very compact capsule envelopes the spore, and preserves the internal moisture from being dried up. Their seed in general ripens before the drought of summer, and when the shallow pools are dried up, the seed lies in the mud, till it is called into life by the returning heat and moisture of early spring. What is recorded by M. Unger respecting Vaucheria clavata, is exceedingly interesting. He set himself uninter- ruptedly to observe one of the tubercles of fructification, and when he had done so for half an horn-, it became darker 332 fresh-water alg/E. \_Chlorospermece. in its colour, and a little transparent at its extremity ; in the middle it was somewhat contracted, and had some traces of spontaneous motion. He could scarcely believe his eyes when he perceived the contraction to become more decided, and a cavity to be formed at the base. The contraction at length divided the globule into two smaller globules, which moved spontaneously towards the summit. As the develop- ment proceeded, the cavity and the uppermost globule became enlarged, while the inferior globule became dimi- nished ; the latter at length disappeared, and the remaining large globule escaped by a terminal orifice ascending till it reached the surface of the water. The whole process occu- pied about a minute. On various other occasions he ob- served numbers of these globules swimming freely about here and there, stopping, and again setting themselves in motion, exactly like animated beings ; and he does not scruple to call them infusory animalcules. We have no doubt that he is correct in his statement as to the motion and subsequent germination of the green globules; but motion such as this, however wonderful, does not prove that they had animal life. He found that the motion of the spores was effected by their surface being covered with vibratile ciliary organs ; but the difficulty still remains. Batrachospermece.~\ batrachospermujvi. 333 Wliat moves these cilia ? Cilia are not peculiar to living creatures. Verily there are mysteries in nature which philosophy cannot explain; depths in the organism of a common plant which human intellect cannot fathom ! 1. Vaucheria dichotoma, Arjardh. Hab. Ditches and pools. The frond of this is dichotomous, as the specific name implies ; it is branched, about a foot in length ; often filling pools with a close matted stratum. The vesicles are solitary globules, and sessile ; the colour is green, lighter or darker. There are a considerable number of Vaucheria which I must pass over. I found one lately in circumstances which seemed uncommon, and I have not yet been able to ascertain which one it is. It was growing in full fruit in November on the steep inside wall of a lime-kiln, uncovered above, along with Funaria hygrometrica. It was of a very dark green, the vesicles were abundant, and the filaments fine. BATRACIIOSPERMUM, Borg. Gen. Char. Filaments invested with gelatine, moniliform ranched Fruit, globules of dense filaments scattered through- out in whorls, and to which they are attached by a single fila- 334 feesh-water algal. [ Chlorospennece . ment. — The name is composed of two Greek words, signifying frog-spawn. 1. Batrachosfermum moniliforme, Borg. (Plate XX. fig. 77, filaments of B. moniliforme, and on the left a por- tion of moniliform filament, magnified.) Ilab. In pure water, in wells and fountains and gently flowing streams. Xot very common. Mr. Balfs, Devon- shire; Mr. Ilassall, Cheshunt; Dr. Dickie, Aberdeen; Dr. Greville, near Edinburgh ; Mr. Keddie, Dunollybeg, near Oban; D. L., Ballantrae. The specimens I got at Ballantrae were as fine as any I had ever seen. They filled a little fountain of water on a hill-side near the sea-shore. When brought out in handfuls from the little spring well, they were truly loathsome, or at least they would have been so to a person unacquainted with them, for they greatly resembled frog-spawn. I knew well, however, what a prize I had got, and with the fine specimens they formed, many friends were supplied. The filaments were about six inches in length, and the specimens shaded with tints of various colours. When spread on paper, the beautiful beading of the filaments can be seen by the naked eye, but it appears still more exqui- sitely beautiful when a lens is applied. They are so gelati- PIJX imp R B A R Bairachospermea.'] batrachospermum. 335 nous that in general they must be allowed to dry on the paper before any pressure is applied. Early in April this Batrachosperm makes its appearance as a light green down on stones, or sometimes on grass, floating from the edge of the pool. At a more advanced period it becomes detached, and continues for a time to grow in a free state. There must be something peculiar in the water in which it grows, for year after year it continues to be found in the same little well, though not got in similar-looking wells for many miles around. I have tried to transplant it into other pools, but without success. 2. B. atrtjm, Bory. Hab. In wells and little pools. This is rare in Scotland, and also I think in England. It is more frequently found in Ireland, whence I have had several specimens of it from Professor Scouler along with the still more beautiful Batrachospermum vagum . I have specimens from Mr. Ealfs from Devonshire, and from Dr. Dickie from Prance. It has been found byD. L, junr in a little well betwixt Ardrossan and Portincross, and I know not any other locality in which it has been got in the west of Scotland. It has been found for a succession of years growing on stones in the same little well, intermixed with 336 fresh-water ALG/E. [ Chlorosperrnea . the much more robust B. moniliforme, and from which it differs by being devoid of moniliform whorls, the distant whorls being like the commencement of filaments. It has been said to be found in alpine streams; but with us it is got only a few yards from the sea-shore. OSCILL ATOM A, Vaucher. Gen. Char. Filaments simple, even, clustered closely, striated, and generally lying in a mucous matrix. — The name is from a Latin word signifying to oscillate like the pendulum of a clock, from the motion that the filaments are thought to make. 1. Oscillatoria limosa, Vaucher. Hab. Ditches and sewers by road-sides. Common. Stratum rich dark green, very thin, gelatinous, with short rays ; filaments pale green, straight ; striae rather distinct, evident. It is not easy to determine the species in this genus ; even in tliis one there is uncertainty. It is 0. tenuis of Hassall, and 0. viridis of Johnston. The family, however, of the Oscillatoriece is one of the most distinct and remark- able of the divisions of the Algae. They are distinguished by the rapidity of their growth, the brilliancy of their Oscillatoriea] oscillatoria. 337 colours, and the peculiar motion or oscillation of their filaments, on which their generic name is founded. Mr. Hassal does not think that there is anything very remark- able in this motion, which he considers as partly external, and altogether physical. Their filaments, he says, are very straight and elastic, and when they are placed for observa- tion on the field of a microscope, they are bent out of their natural straight line, and make an effort to recover it. Cur- rents almost imperceptible in the liquid in which they are immersed, and perhaps unequal attractions amongst the filaments themselves, are causes amply sufficient to explain any motion, he thinks, that he has ever witnessed amongst the Oscillator iece. Captain Carmichael, however, a very accurate observer, is of a different opinion, though he probably makes too much of their motion when he considers it a proof of animal life. “ Let a small portion of the stratum be placed in a watch-glass nearly filled with water, and covered with a circular film of talc, so that its edge may touch the glass, the water will be rendered as fixed as if it were a piece of ice. The glass may now be placed under the microscope, and the oscillation of the filaments viewed without the risk of disturbance from the agitation of the water; by following this course it will be speedily z 338 fresh-water algal. [Chlorospermea:. perceived that the motion in question is entirely independent of that cause.” 2. O. THERMALIS, HaSSall. This resembles the preceding, only that it is finer in every respect. It cannot be called common, for I know no other habitat than that in which I found it, — in a current of tepid water, flowing from a boiler at the Turf Dyke coal-pit, Stevenston. When taken out of the water it is like green jelly. When a small portion of it is placed on paper, and the paper is submerged, it almost immediately begins to put forth its bright green glossy filaments, which in the course of a few hours extend in all directions an inch or an inch and a half in length. It makes a very beautiful specimen, especially if the central patch from which the filaments spring, is removed, and the space becomes filled with filaments from the first growth. If the patch is not removed, it is, when dried, apt to crack and fall off, lea\mg an empty space. 3. 0. mucosa, Bory. Stratum gelatinous, dark, seruginous green, glossy ; fila- ments large ; striae subdistant. This, like the former, seems to be a new species, as Mr. H assail had never seen any specimens but those I sent him. Chcetophoroidece. ] DRAPARNA.LDIA. 339 I found them floating in a pool at the same coal-pit, but the water was not warm, and not very pure. They formed little filmy clouds, which were almost imperceptible. DRAPARN ALDIA, Bory. Gen. Char. Filaments free, not immersed in gelatinous fluid. — Hassall. It is affectionately dedicated by M. Bory to his departed friend Mons. Draparnaud, a distinguished French naturalist. 1. Draparnaldia clomerata, Acjardh. ITab. In slow streams and ditches, adhering to stones, sticks, &c. Not common in Scotland; more common in England and Ireland. I have got it in several places in Ayrshire. Stem round, branched ; ramuli in tufts, which are fre- quently alternate, and always ciliated ; tufts divergent. The fiist time I ever saw it was at Lochranza, in the island of Arran, in a little limpid pool in a stream from the mountain. I found great difficulty in catching it; it was so lubricous that it slipped through my hands like an eel, and so fragile, that when caught it broke by its own 340 FRESH-WATER algje. [ Chlorospermece . weight. When first removed from the water it is like a mass of coloured jelly without form or organization ; but when placed again in water to be spread on paper, it un- folds itself very beautifully. The Draparnaldice are universal favourites, the colour and the structure being so lovely. JJ. glomerata is the largest of the family, and when found in a young state before the zoospores have escaped, it is truly beautiful. It adheres closely to paper, but it is so gelatinous that in most cases it must he allowed to dry on the paper before it is pressed, as it adheres to whatever covers it. 2. D. nana, Hassutt. (Plate XX. fig. 79, plant, natural size ; on the right, a branch magnified, and underneath, a branclilet still more magnified.) Filaments highly mucous, very slender, sparingly branched. Branches acuminate, not usually ciliated. Cells rather broader than long. — Hassall. Hab. In streams, adhering to grass and weeds, and sticks and stones. Mr. Hassall says that is not uncommon in England in spring. It is rare in Scotland. The first time I found it, it was adhering to a piece of wood in a runlet of water pumped from a coal-pit near Stevenston, where the obstructing wood and stones formed a little Ch(Btophoroidece.~\ DRAPARNALDIA. 341 waterfall. The next time I got it in great beauty in October, attached to withered grass, which, though rooted on the bank, was in part floating in the stream of Stevenston burn, at a place generally affected by the tide. Tor seven years I never saw it again, though I often sought it at the same place at the same season. In May, 1848, however, I got it in great abundance and beauty in the same rivulet attached to pond- weed. The tufts, waving gracefully in the stream, were two or three inches in length, and when cautiously handled, could be brought out entire. Aided by my youngest daughter (who did not much like the wading, as the little flounders were always pouncing upon her feet) I procured a great number of specimens; and now that I know the habitat, and that it is not an autumnal, but a spring plant, I hope May, 1849, now at hand, will be as productive as May, 1848, and that, undismayed by flounders, a good stock may be procured. I). nana is very like I), plumosa, but Mr. Hassall thinks it quite different. 3. D. elongata, Hassall. This, which is regarded as a new species, was first found by Major Martin in a quarry pool near Saltcoats. It was got by D. L. in April, 1849, in a slow-running stream 342 FRESH-WATER ALGAE [ Cll loTOSpermeS. at the Turf Dyke coal-pit, Stevenston. It was lying at the bottom, growing on weeds and stones, in inconsiderable masses. The filaments were slender, and could not support much of the mass when an attempt was made to lift it out of the water. It bears a considerable likeness to D. nana, though the green is lighter, and the filaments longer. Mr. Hassall says that it is rare ; that he has only twice got it, — once growing in a horse-trough near Cheshunt. ZYGNEMA, Agar dli. Gen. Char. Filaments articulated, simple, finally united in pairs by numerous transverse tubes. Eudochrome consisting of granules arranged in spiral rings, or in a simple row, which after conjugation, are condensed into a globule in one of the filaments, or in the transverse tubes. — The name from Greek words signi- fying a yoke and a thread, the threads, though at first separate, being afterwards yoked together. — Harvey. Zygnema is one of the genera of the order Conjugates. The Conjugates are undoubtedly the most curious tribe of Confervs. Their filaments are simple, and of uniform diameter. They are mostly unattached, and being the inhabitants of stagnant waters, are in no danger of being Conferveai.~\ ZYGNEMA. 343 disturbed in their curious process of fructification. The simple filaments are composed of elongated cells, placed end to end, and held together by an enveloping membrane. The interior of these cells is occupied chiefly with endo- chrome, sometimes like stars, spirally arranged, and at other times filling the cavity of the cells. "What follows is very remarkable. When the filaments are fully grown, as they are in close juxta-position to each other, the cells are observed to send forth little conical processes or tubes, which unite with similar protrusions from corresponding cells of an adjoining filament, thus establishing a passage of communication betwixt the cells. In the meantime if the plant be a Zyg- nema, the endochrome in the spiral tubes becomes confused, and the contents of one cell pass through the connecting tube, and mingle with those of the other, forming a circular or oval body, of a dark green colour. It is remarkable that the cells of one part of the filament will part with their contents and remain empty, while in another part of the same filament, they will receive the contents of the cells of another adjoining filament. Some of the species of the genus Zygnema do not thus unite with other filaments ; the round dark-green granular 344 FRESH-WATER ALGAS. {ChlorOSpermecB . balls being in these formed by the union of the contents of two adjoining cells in the same filament. When two cells are thus conjugating, the ceil which has the greater portion of the matter receives the contents of the other. In the course of a few days, the sporongia or globules are formed, and are invested with two or three membranes, to preserve, we doubt not, the vitality of the seed. In a week or two the filaments separate, and break down at the joining of the cells, and the zoospores bursting from them are disengaged and fall to the bottom to spring up after the rigours of winter, or even during winter, when there is not a continu- ance of frost.* 1. Zygnema quininum, Agardh. The filaments are pale yellowish-green ; the spues perform three revolutions in each cell; the spores are simple. Very common in ditches and pools, in cloudy masses, of a pale green colour ; filaments glossy, and marked with a spiral line resembling a constant repetition of the Roman numeral Y.j or five, whence the specific name quininum. This is the chief distinguishing mark from another very common * See a fuller and better statement of these matters in Hassall’s excellent work on British Fresh-water Algae. Desniidiece. ] DESMIDIEiE. 345 species, which has two spiral lines crossing each other, and thus repeating throughout its whole length, the Bornan numeral X., whence it is called Zygnema deciminum. This is well represented in Plate xxm. figs. 3 and 4, of Mr. Idassall s work, while Zygnema quininum is figured in Plate xxviii. figs. 1 and 2. DESMIDIEiE. The character of this family is thus given by Mr. Half's : Eiesh-water, figured, mucus and microscopic Algae, of a green colour; transverse division mostly complete, but in some genera incomplete ; cells or joints of two symmetrical valves, the junction always marked by the division of the endochrome, often also by a constriction, sporangia formed by the coupling of the cells, and union of their contents." This description is taken from an admirable book by Mr. Balfs, of Penzance, on British Desmidieae,— a work of great research, and illustrated by many beautiful plates. I shall not attempt to lead my young friends into the depths of microscopic Algology, yet in touching at all on fresh- water Algm, I could not refrain from giving a slight notice of this exceedingly interesting tribe. They are all inha- 346 FRESH -WATER ALG2E. [Diatomacece. bitants of fresh-water. Their colour is green; with the ex- ception of a few of one genus, whose outer integument is coloured, though the internal matter is green, while their most obvious peculiarities are the beautiful variety of their forms, and their external markings 5 their most distinguishing characteristic, as Mr. Ealfs observes, is the evident division into two valves or segments. Each cell, or joint, of the Desmicliece consists of two similar valves or segments, and the line of junction is in general well-marked. Mr. Ealfs is decidedly of opinion that the two valves are but one cell, differing on this point from any other writers on the subject, except Professor Kiitzing, who in his Phycologia Germanica has arrived at the same conclusion, by inde- pendent observations. Mr. Ealfs states that the multipli- cation of the cells by repeated transverse division is full of interest, both as it relates to themselves, and in the remark- able manner in which it takes place, and because it unfolds 'the nature of a process in other families; and furnishes a valuable addition to the knowledge of tlieir structure and physiology. The process is very evident in the genus Euastnm, for though the frond is really a single cell, yet in all its stages, it appears like two, the segments being always distinct, even from the commencement, being separated Desmicliea',.'] MICROSTERIAS. 347 from each other by the length of the connecting tube, which is converted into two hyaline lobes. These lobes increasing in size, acquire the colour, and gradually put on the appearance of the old portion. Of course as they in- crease, the original segments are pushed farther asunder, and at last are disconnected, each new lobe taking with it an old segment to supply the place of that from which it was separated, so that every new specimen of Euostrum is partly new and partly old. A single glance, however, at Mr. Ralfs Plate xi. fig. 2, Euostrum verrucosum, will give a better idea of this than all the words we can employ. MICROSTERIAS, Agarclli. Gen. Char. Frond simple, lenticular, deeply divided into two obed segments ; the lobes inciso-dentate (rarely only bidentate) and generally radiant.— Ralfs. 1. Microsterias dentic cjlata, Brebisson. (Plate XX. fig. SO, a mature frond, and under it a dividing frond ) Hab. Penzance, Mr. Ralfs; Kent, Mr. Jenner ; Henfield, Mr. Borrer; Bristol, Mr. Broome; Ambleside, Mr. Side- botham; Aberdeenshire, Dr. Dickie; Stevenston, Ayrshire, jL). jl. 348 PRESS- WATER ALGIE. [ Diatomacea . This species is not uncommon. It is found in marshy ground, and in ditches. The frond is large, and nearly circular, each segment is five-lobed; the colour is bright green ; frequently the margin of the frond is colourless. Originally the two segments of the frond are united by a narrow tube, as seen in the plate. This connecting tube lengthens, expands, and becomes two young segments, of a lighter green colour, as in the lower figure. When these two segments have become full-sized, they separate, and form two fronds, of each of which one half is old, and the other half new. HYALOTIIECA, Mrenberg. Gen. Char. Filaments elongated, cylindrical, very gelatinous ; joints having either a slight constriction, which produces a crenate appearance, or a grooved rim at one end, which forms a bifid projection on each side ; end vein circular. RaJfs. 1. IIyalotheca dissiliens, Smith. Hab. Penzance, &c., Mr. Ralfs ; North Wales, Mr. Borrer; Kent, &c., Mr. Jenner; Essex, Mr. Hassall; Bandon, Professor Allman ; Ambleside, Mr. Sidebotham ; Bristol, Mr. Broome; Stoke Hill, Mr. Thwaites; Aber- deen, Dr. Dickie; Ayrshire, D. L. Desmidiet e.] HYALOTHECA. 349 I have fixed on this species because I do not suppose that it is uncommon. I have got it iu several localities ; iu Ayrshire, iu particular, it is very abundant, iu a little pond near Turf Dyke coal-pit, Stevenston. It is very beautiful when examined with a microscope, or even a good pocket lens. I first knew it under the name of Conferva dissiliens, and in its general appearance it greatly resembles some of the Conferva proper, unbranched. The filaments are of considerable length, and fine as a human hair. Look at one of the filaments : though you see no difference in the two extremities, you would be disposed to say that one end must be the base and the other end the summit — the former the older, and the latter the younger of the two. You are fairly out ; for the two ends are the oldest portions of the filament. At first there were two valves, forming one cell, constituting the plant. These two segments or valves were connected by a tube, which lengthened as we have seen in Microsterias, and gradually formed two new valves. These grew and parted asunder the two original valves, and the new joining with the old, formed two cells instead of one This process is repeated till a filament is formed, several inches m length, and consisting of numerous cells, the two segments at the end of the filament, though now far sepa- 350 fresh-water alga;. [Diatomacea. rated, being the two valves or segments of which the origi- nal cell consisted. Mr. Ealfs has a long and able dissertation on a disputed point, whether the Desmidiea are animal or vegetable, and proves very satisfactorily that they are vegetable. In conclusion we may advert to a curious fact mentioned by Mr. Ealfs, of Iiyalotheca, and other Desmidiea:, being found growing in an old water-butt, in water derived fiom the clouds alone. Did these plants descend from the clouds ? Yes, but they had previously ascended from the earth. The “ High and Lofty One” disdains not to provide for the continuance and wide diffusion of what He has in wisdom made. To the seeds of many land-plants He gives what serves all the purposes of wings. To the spores of many minute aquatic plants He gives, by means of cilia , the power of waving to and fro in the waters, till they find a suitable place for rest and growth. They are so light that they may be raised up into the atmosphere during the process of evaporation, and driven about by the slightest breath of wind. THE HERBARIUM. 351 Directions for Collecting , Spreading out, Pre- paring, and Preserving Sea-weeds. % Much of the pleasure anti much of the benefit arising from the study of Algology, consists in the pursuit. It is in so far like hunting and fishing; there is all the excite- ment of hope and all the advantage of exercise; and there is this m its favour, that however great the success, there is no life taken, no blood shed, and the subsequent enjoyment is not limited to a short repast, but may be continued for many years. Let the young Algologist provide a tin vasculum, or an oil-skin bagf in which he may deposit his marine stores. As some of the finer Algte soon fade in colour when exposed to the air, it may be well to have a small wide-mouthed flask in which they may be carried home floating in sea- water. A staff with a crooked head is not a bad accom- paniment. Thus accoutred, let him proceed to the shore at ebb-tide, and examine the rejectamenta cast out by the sea, turning them over with his staff, that no newly buried beauty may be allowed to perish. Let him then carefully examine the Algse growing on the uncovered rocks, ex- tending the investigation to those rocks or stones that are 352 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. still partly under the waves. When the tide is turned, and begins to flow, fine weeds may often he got floating in little bays, or where currents betwixt rocks are formed. These may be very easily caught by the weed-gatherer s staff. When the vasculum is filled, or the time is up, or the collector tired, let the spoils of the sea be carefully examined when he reaches home. There will be much uncertainty in many cases as to the contents of the vasculum, or oil-skin bag, till they are floated and spread out on paper. Then it is that there is scope for fine taste, and for the delicate manipulation of ladies’ fingers ; nature must be consulted as the sure instructress for laying out the specimens in the most graceful manner. Place on the table a basin of fiesli- water to cleanse the weeds from sand or any impurity. Let only a small portion of the mass at a time be put into the basin, as many species begin to decompose when placed in fresh-water. If the specimens are of large size, they may, after cleansing, be floated in a shallow tin-tray filled with fresh-water ; but if they are only of moderate size, a white soup-plate will answer the purpose : let the plate be nearly filled with luke-warm water. Let a good supply of paper be at hand; and, as much of the beauty of the specimen depends on the quality of the paper, it should be fine, THE HERBARIUM. 353 and at the same time stout, almost as good as drawing- paper. The paper should be cut so as to be quite smooth at the edges, and as this is best effected by the book- binder’s knife, it is well to have it done when the paper is purchased. Having got the paper neatly cut into square and oblong portions, of different sizes, take a piece suited to the size of the specimen, and place it under the weed floating in the water, then putting the left hand under the paper, bring it near the surface, and gently move the sea-weed till it assume on the paper a natural and graceful form; the fingers of the right hand may be employed in helping to arrange the branches of the plant, or some sharp-pointed instrument may be used for this purpose,— a pen-knife, the quill of a porcupine, or what is still better, as being less sharp,— the point of a silver fruit-knife. A pair of nice little scissors should be at hand, to remove any superabun- dant branches. Wheu the specimen is properly arranged, let the paper on which it is spread be very cautiously removed from the water, for if the position of the plant is changed, the work may require to be done over again. When the speci- men is removed from the water, it may be placed for a little 2 A 354 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. while in a sloping position, to allow the water to run oh, and during this time other specimens may be treated in the same way. The drying and pressing processes then begin. Before any part of the paper is completely dry, place the specimens on several folds of blotting-paper, quarto size, and cover them with a fold of muslin, and over the muslin lay several folds of blotting-paper, repeating this operation till all the specimens that have been laid down are covered with a fold of muslin, and several folds of blotting-paper. If a screw- press is at hand, let the whole be placed in it and gently pressed. Strong pressure at first would bruise the plant, especially if at all gelatinous. After some houis of slight pressure the whole may be removed, and either treated with a fresh supply of muslin and paper, or those in which they were may be dried before the specimens aie again placed in them. The advantage of being covered with a fold of muslin will then appear ; for in general none of them will be found adhering to the muslin, whereas had they been covered only with blotting-paper, the half of the specimens would have been spoiled by adhering to it. The whole may then be replaced in the press, and consi- derably stronger pressure applied to them, and under this THE HERBARIUM. 355 they may be allowed to remain for a clay and a night. In shifting them the second time, the mnslin coverings may be removed. When permitted to remain till the plants are quite dry, there is danger of their leaving chequered im- pressions on the specimens. They may then be replaced in the press, and very strong pressure applied. They should be shifted once a day for a week, and the paper dried • and at the end of that time they may be deposited in the Herbarium, when they will be found adhering so closely to the paper as to have all the appearance of a beautiful painting* Where there is not a press, the want is easily supplied. All that is necessary is two boards the size of the blotting-paper, and three weights of stone or cast iron. The blotting-paper containing the specimens being placed betwixt the boards, one weight may be placed above them at first, two at the second shifting, and all the three afterwards, and let the last be a very heavy one. When the specimens are taken out of the blotting paper, before they are placed in the Herbarium, the scientific name, the locality and the date, should be neatly written at the bottom. * A learned Professor going abroad ashed me to give him some specimens connected natural history for the museum of his college. I s'eut Z “r i7 0d sea-'veeds> and he wrote to me that he was exceedingly obliged to me lor the beautiful sketches done by my daughters 1 ' 9 A 0 356 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. Though what we have said respecting laying down and pressing is suitable for plants in general, there are excep- tions ; there are some that may be treated in the way we have prescribed, and yet they would not adhere. If they are cartilaginous, or coriaceous, or destitute of gelatine, however firmly pressed they will not cling to paper ; these require a little gumming, or a little isinglass, which leaves not a glare like gum. Some delicate plants that lose their fine colour when pre- pared in fresh-water, retain it considerably better when they are floated in sea-water, or, if tills is not at hand, in water in which there is a solution of common salt. The great Tangle, and some of the larger Fuel, which are not pliant, and which lose their colour, becoming black in the Herbarium, are by Algologists that we kuow dipped in hot water for a little, which both renders them more pliant, and prevents them, for a time at least, from becoming black. The natural colour might perhaps be in some degree preserved, if, according to the practice of other Algo- logists, a coat of varnish were given them before they are placed in the Herbarium. It is a general complaint that the Forphjra do not adhere to paper in drying, but shrink and become torn in THE HERBARIUM. 357 consequence of starting from the paper. This is very easily presented : let them be spread out and covered with muslin in the common way, but let not the muslin be removed for two or three days; yet though the muslin is to be allowed to remain, let them have, along with the other species, a supply from time to time of blotting-paper, not only dry, but heated at the fire. In four or five days they will be quite dry, and they will adhere so firmly to the paper that they will seem a part of it. ^ ery gelatinous kinds, such as Gloiosiphonia, Mesogloia, Batrachospermum, Draparnaldia, &c., would in some cases be destroyed, if covered and pressed in the manner we have directed. They would be bruised by the pressure, and would adhere to the muslin or paper, however lightly laid over them. They must be allowed to lie exposed to the air till they are dry, and then after moistening with a sponge the under side of the paper, strong pressure may be applied to them. But though these cautions are in general necessary, there are certain states of these plants, in which they may be covered and pressed in the common way, and those that are thus treated make by far the finest specimens There are several ways in which collections of sea-weeds may be preserved after they have been carefully prepared. 358 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. They may be kept loose betwixt folds of paper, and the sheets may be arranged alphabetically according to the names of the plants they contain. This is found very convenient when reference is required, or when a selection from them is to be made. When the student of Algology has got specimens named on good authority, they should be kept separate, and may be attached by fine pins to the sheets in which they are placed. This in their case is preferable to any permanent fastening, because it may often be necessary to examine their structure and fructification by placing them under the microscope, or by holding them up betwixt the eye and the light that they may be examined with the aid of a good lens. When specimens are placed in an album, slits may be made to receive the four corners, and in this way they may easily be removed and replaced at will. If the collection is chiefly valued for its beauty,— and few things are more beau- tiful than a good collection of well-prepared Algae,— a hand- some album should be got formed of stout coloured paper, and on the pages of this album, the specimens should be tastefully arranged according to their size and form, and then they may be made to adhere to the strong coloured paper by touching the under side of each corner with veil- THE HERBARIUM. 359 made paste; or if there is no wish to remove them, by applying the paste with a camel's hair-brush to the whole of the under side. After a short pressure, they will adhere in the firmest manner, and judging from what I have lately seen, there is no way in which a fine collection appears to so great advantage. 360 BRITISH SE4-WEEDS. GLOSSARY. The Frond. Frond, is employed to signify all parts of a sea-weed except the root ; and in some cases the stem, when it is very distinct from the other parts of the plant. The Frond may be Bifid, cleft into two segments ; Bilobed, divided into two lobes ; Dichotomous, regularly and repeatedly cleft in two as in Dictyota dichotoma ; Furcate, forked. Capillary, slender, hair-like as in the Conferva. Compressed, flattened laterally as in Fnt. compressa. Constricted, drawn together as if tied, at intervals, as in Chorda lomentaria. Continuous, without interruption, prolonged. Convolute, rolled together ; Involute, rolled inwards ; Revo- lute, rolled backwards. GLOSSARY. 361 Cordate , heart-shaped at the base ; Obcordate, heart-shaped at the apex. Grenaied, notched. Cuneate, wedge-shaped. Cylindrical, round and elongated. Denticulated, toothed. Fusiform, sword-shaped . Falcated, sickle-shaped. Filamentous, slender, thread-like. Filiform, string-like, the size of common twine. Fimbriated, fringed. Flabelliform, fan-shaped. Flexuous, bending to one side or the other, wavy. Geniculated, bent like the knee. Hastate, shaped like a spear. Laciniated, cleft more or less deeply. Lanceolate, shaped like a lance. Lenticular, circumference round, surface depressed above and below. Linear, narrow, the same width all along. Linguliform, tongue-shaped. Ovate, rounded at the base, tapering towards the apex, egg- shaped. 362 GLOSSARY. Obovate, the preceding reversed. Oval, or Elliptical, equally rounded at both ends, the length exceeding the breadth. Palmate, shaped like the hand with the fingers extended. Pinnatifid, cut transversely into oblong segments. Plane, level, flat. Proliferous, when a second frond springs from the first. Reniform, kidney-shaped. Saccate, in the form of a bag. Simple, undivided, unbranched. Spathulate, rounded at the apex, and tapering at the base. Tubular, hollow, round like a tube. The Frond in Substance may be Carnose, fleshy consistence. Cartilaginous, stiff, gristly. Coriaceous, leathery, tough, and elastic. Corneous, horny. Flaccid, soft, collapsing when removed from the water. Gelatinous, jelly-like. Rigid, harsh and stiff. In Structure, the Frond may be Cellular, when composed of small cells. Filamentous, when made up of threads. GLOSSARY. 363 Gelatinoso-cartilaginous, betwixt gelatinous and membra- naceous. Gelatinoso -membranaceous, betwixt gelatinous and membra- naceous. Punctated, dotted. Reticulated, veined like net- work. Striated, streaked with lines. The smaller divisions of the Frond called Ramuli, branchlets, or Ramelli, little branchlets, may be, Appressed, approaching the stem or branch, so as to be almost in the same direction. Articulate, jointed. Byssoid, forming tufts of slender filaments. Corymbose, level-topped; the branchlets of different length, but level or nearly so at top. Distichous, placed in two opposite rows. Divaricated, when the direction is between the patent, or spreading, and horizontal. Fasciculated, tufted and level-topped. Rubricated, overlapping each other like tiles. Inarticulate, not jointed. Multifid, much divided, or cleft. Patent, spreading. 364 GLOSSARY. Pectinate, with the divisions like the teeth of a comb. Pectinato-jnnna te, partaking of both the preceding characters. Pinnate, winged. Qnadrifarious, arising from all sides of the branch. Setaceous, bristly. Secund, when the branchlets bear another series on one side. V erticillate, whorled, set in a circle round the stem. Ti-ie Fructification. Capsules, small pitcher-shaped bodies containing spores, sporules, or seeds. Cilia, eye-lash like bodies, with which the spores of many of the Algae are clothed. Pndochrome, a dark-coloured mass in the filaments that forms the seed. Granules, seeds in the form of little grains, collected in patches on the frond, called sori, or placed in the tips of branchlets. Capsular seed is called primary, and granular seed secondary, only by way of distinction, for they are equally productive of plants. Involucre, a small cover of the fruit, formed, as in Ceramium rubrum, of short branchlets. Pericarp, the cover of the seed or fruit. GLOSSARY. 365 Receptacles, variously shaped bodies containing the seeds. Sori, as we have already said, are patches either defined or scattered, in which the granular seed is placed. Sporidia, clusters of sporules. Stic India, Antheridia, Coccidia, Ceramidia, Utricles, Favellce, different kinds of fructification, explained in Chapter Y. page 30. Tetraspores, a mass of four spores conjoined. Tubercles, small round masses generally containing seed. Colour. When there is scarcely any colour, and the parts are almost transparent like glass, the plants are said to be Hyaline, diaphanous, pellucid. The opposite of this is opake. Cinereous, ash-coloured. Ferruginous, rust-coloured. Fuliginous, smoke-coloured. Fuscous, reddish-brown. Glaucous, mixture of green and blue. Iridescent, having the colours of the rainbow. Olivaceous, a dusky green, inclining to brown. This is at times very remarkable in Chondrus crispus, 366 GLOSSARY. which we saw lately having a rich metallic lustre, the tints being as brilliant as those in the neck of the peacock. We have also seen Nitophyllum laceratum, very iridescent. Other terms not comprised in the foregoing. Abortive, not reaching perfection. Acuminated, with a long tapering point. Aculeated, pointed like a prickle. Agglutinated, glued together. Aggregate, collected, or grouped together. Annotated, ringed. Axillary, in the angle called the axil, formed by the junction of branch and stem. Basal, at the base. Bullated, blistered. Caulescent, having a stem. Cirrliose, with tendrils. Costate, ribbed. Cryptogamous, plants not having flowers. Deciduous, falling off. Disk, surface of a frond within the margin. Disk, the flat base by which many alga; adhere to rocks. Dissepiments, the partitions of the articulate alga;. Frondlel, a little frond. GLOSSARY. 367 Frustules, the joints of which dichotomous plants are com- posed. Fusiform, spindle-shaped. Gibbous, the surface elevated at a particular place. Glandular, having glands, bodies containing juices. Lateral, at the sides. Limbus, a border. Mammillated, hemispherical, with a wart on its top. Midrib, a large vein termed percurrent, when continuing the whole length of the frond. Mucronated, rounded apex armed with a spine. Nerve, a faint vein. Obsolete, when wearing awav. Parasite, growing on another plant. Periphery, an envelope. Phenogamous, flowering plants. Pinna, winged-leaflets or portions of the frond. Placenta, a pillar often formed by the thickening of the partitions of the pericarp. Pnlvinate, pillow-shaped. Pyriform, pear-shaped. Rotund, round. Scutate , shaped like a shield. 368 GLOSSARY. Segments, divisions of the frond. Septa, bands, partitions. Serrated, like a saw. Sub-rotund, roundish, the prefix meaning that the character does not strictly apply. Terete, round, cylindrical. Tortile, twisted. Voluble, twining. Truncated, cut across. Umbilicated, the surface depressed, surrounded by an ele- vated margin. Uncinated, hooked. Urceolate, expanded at both ends, and contracted in the middle. Vesicle, a bladder. Utricle, a little bladder. THE END. Printed by Reeve, Bculinm, nnd Reeve, King-William Street. Strand. July , 1849. LIST OP WORKS ON NATURAL HISTORY, &c., PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY REEYE, BENHAM, ANI) REEVE. 1. POPULAR HISTORY OP BRITISH SEA-WEEDS; a familial- and technical description of the Sea-weeds of the British coasts. By the Rev. D. Landsborough, A.L.S., Member of the Wernerian Society of Edin- burgh. One vol. royal lGmo, twenty plates of Figures and two plates of dissections by Pitch. Price 10j. 6 cl. coloured. 2. POPULAR FIELD BOTANY ; a familiar and technical description of the plants of the British Isles. By Agnes Catlow. One vol. royal 16 mo, 20 plates of Figures. Price 7 s. plain ; HR. 6 d. coloured. 3. 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