5 
drical bladders, which, like enormous sea-serpents, float on 
the surface of the water, and individually sweep between the 
little islands, rendering the channels impassable, even for 
boats. From the information that I collected from various 
Russians and Aleutians concerning its duration, this Fucus 
is annual. In autumn it is cast in great quantities on shore 
by the then prevalent storms, where it soon decays, and in 
spring not the least trace of it is to be seen. -The Aleutians 
employ the stipes, which is said sometimes to be 45 fathoms 
long, for fishing-lines:* I purchased one of them. I once 
saw the Kadiakensers, in Sitcha, make use of the cylinder as 
a siphon, for pumping the water out of their Beidarkas; an 
use to which it is well known that the F. buccinalis is often 
applied at the Cape of Good Hope. Owing to the moist 
climate of Sitcha, the drying of this sea-weed is attended with 
considerable difficulty. I hardly ever succeeded in pre- 
serving a tolerable specimen of the cylinder or bladder, 
though I bestowed much pains and labour on the operation, 
for this part generally dissolves completely, or if dried, the 
leaves then become brittle as glass, and fall to pieces with 
the slightest touch. The opening of the bladder and dis- 
charging the water which it uniformly contains, only hastens 
the process of decomposition: though the bladders of F. pyri- 
Jerus, if similarly treated, always dried quickly and well, I 
have preserved some young specimens in spirits. The fruc- 
tification of this Fucus consists in dark-coloured, more or 
less elongated spots, irregularly scattered in the substance 
of the leaves. In the Bay of Illulak I only saw it in one 
place, and never again afterwards. 
* I was not able to find Fucus Menziesii at Norfolk 
Sound, though I repeatedly sought for it. Many of the 
sea-weeds which I had observed at Sitcha, appeared again 
at Unalaschka: those with perforated fronds seemed to be 
the most interesting kinds. Here I first saw the beautiful. 
Fucus Clathrus, which Agardh, in 1821, placed in the list 
Specierum inquirendarum, although he had before him the 
* We saw these fishing-lines at Unalaschka, but had no opportunity et. 
examining the Fucus which produced them, (Chamisso.) 
