70 



SEA WEEDS. 



rest of that dreadful night passed in comparative 

 comfort. At daybreak their perilous condition was 

 discovered from the shore, and they were rescued 

 a A little learning," in this case, was certainly no 

 " dangerous thing." 



The Sea Weeds, or marine " Algae/' as they are 

 termed, belong to the first great natural order 

 of plants, the Acrogenous ; they are so called be- 

 cause, with a few exceptions, they are devoid of 

 the usual appendages of plants stems, leaves, 

 and flowers. Some of the simplest forms belong- 

 ing to this order consist merely of a mass of cellu- 

 lar tissue. The mould which collects in damp 



places, and sometimes upon the top 

 of articles of food that have been 

 kept in damp closets, is a little plant 

 of this order. The green tinge as- 

 sumed by stagnant water, is owing 

 to the presence of a species of fresh 

 water "Algae," which grows spon- 

 taneously in such places. The beau- 

 tiful lichens that cover the bark of 

 some trees, and the rails and boards 

 of old fences, the many kinds of 

 moss with which our woods abound, and the un- 

 sightly mushroom and toadstool, all belong to this 

 order of plants. In all these there exists nothing 

 which can be strictly defined as either stem, leaf, 

 or flower; but in the "Ferns," which also belong to 

 the same order, we see the connecting link between 

 the higher and the lower forms of vegetable life. The 



Mould, magnified. 



