90 Rhodora [May 
of Maine, and he was kind enough to send me the specimens, which 
fortunately had been kept by themselves, not distributed in the 
general herbarium; the two specimens to which I could give no name 
could not be found, however. On examining the others and comparing 
them with Dr. Howe’s paper, I felt that the safest way would be to 
submit them to Dr. Howe, which I did, and he very kindly examined 
them. Before giving the list with the results of his examination, I 
will state what I have been able to learn of the cireumstances under 
which these plants were collected; I think they will be of interest, 
especially as they give an incidental view of some former conditions 
in New England, now quite passed away. 
The M. S. C. label on the cover containing the specimens has the 
record “ These algae were collected at the Chincha Is. in 1865 by Mrs. 
J. H. Nickerson Bangor and donated by her to the college." I think 
this is in Prof. Harvey’s writing. No one now at the College remem- 
bers anything about the matter. Some friends of mine in Bangor 
were obliging enough to make inquiries, and at their suggestion I 
wrote to Capt. J. H. Nickerson at South Orrington, Maine; I received 
an interesting reply from J. E. Nickerson of that place, who was not 
the man in question; he did however once know a Captain John 
Nickerson of West Bucksport, a “ Deep water man ” of 40 or 50 years 
ago. Both the captain and his wife were dead long since, but Mr. 
Nickerson suggested my writing to Capt. William S. Higgins of 
Morse & Co., Bangor; Capt. Nickerson's wife was a sister of D. J. 
Morse of that house, and Capt. Higgins’s wife her niece. I found Capt. 
Higgins extremely kind in trying to get the information I wanted, but 
at first it seemed hopeless. D. J. Morse was dead, as well as his sister 
and his brother-in-law; no one could be found who remembered any- 
thing about the collections. Finally however, Capt. Higgins was 
successful to a certain extent, and I learned that Capt. J. K. (not J. H.) 
Nickerson was at the Chincha Islands in 1862, in command of the 
bark “Evening Star”; he sailed from the islands to Antwerp and 
there sold the vessel, returning to New York with Mrs. Nickerson by 
steamer. After returning he had a ship built for him at Brewer, the 
“Jennie Hight”; this ship was lost on the Florida coast, on her first 
voyage. 
In those days and for many years before, New England captains 
and their ships were to be found in all quarters of the world; and often 
their wives went with them, and this is not the only case where the 
