87 



rochnus being usually club-shaped or cylindrical, with 

 a terminal tuft of filaments. 



The Geographical Distribution of the Sporochnacecc 

 is mainly confined to the coasts of Australia and the 

 southern ocean. The most of the species of Sporochnus, 

 which like Bcllotia are among the most beautiful 

 of olive-brown Algae, are Australian ; Belloiia, Encyo- 

 thalia, and Perithalia inhabit the same region. 

 Sporochnus, Nereia, and Carpomitra enter the warm 

 Atlantic, and one species of Sporockmw (S. pedun- 

 culatus) and Carpomitra Cabrerce occur in British 

 seas. 



Two puzzling types, viz. Spermatochnus and Stilo- 

 pliora (with Halorhiza} may be conveniently dealt 

 with here as supplementary to the Sporochnacccc. 

 Their diversity consists in their vegetative structure 

 and development, which appear to be intermediate 

 between this order and Chordariacece, as are also 

 their reproductive characters. The difficulty of 

 placing them has been solved by making separate 

 orders, viz. Spermatochnaccce and Stilophoracea?, for 

 their reception, but considering how much remains 

 to be discovered in the neighbouring groups, it 

 appears to be scarcely justifiable to add, on grounds 

 mainly of vegetative development, to the already 

 excessive number of orders in the Phwophycecc. 



Spermatochnus, which occurs in British seas and on 

 the Scandinavian shores of the North Sea, has been 

 minutely studied by Reinke. It has a filiform 

 thallus, consisting of primarily a single central row 

 of cells, surrounded by a mantle of parenchymatous 

 cells. It grows by the division of an apical cell, and 



