SERTULARIA FILICULA. 265 



from every bend, short and simple, or much elongated 

 and composite; HYDROTHEC^E minute, opposite or sub- 

 alternate, flask-shewed, the aperture oblique and facing 

 towards the stem, with a plain rim, a single calycle 

 standing erect in every axil; GONOTHEC.E pear-shaped, 

 with a short, tubular aperture. 



S. FILICULA is of delicate, wavy habit and a somewhat 

 bright straw- colour, and is one of the prettiest of its tribe. 

 It is generally luxuriant in growth, and presents a complex 

 ramification. It is cast on shore in large, tangled masses, 

 and may be known at once by its zigzag stems, its peculiar 

 colour, and its exquisite delicacy. The flask-shaped caly- 

 cles, too, with the bent apertures, one of which stands 

 erect in each axil, afford a good distinctive mark. 



Amongst the spoils of the shore, there are few things 

 prettier than this zoophyte, and, familiar as it is, I never 

 cease to admire with fresh zest its light and elegant 

 tracery, its pleasant tone of colour, and the intricate 

 luxuriance of its wavy stems and branches. S. abietina 

 must be considered its nearest of kin, but the expression 

 of the two species is totally different ; the latter is coarse 

 and clumsy as compared with its graceful ally. 



The reproductive capsules are rarely met with. 



Hub. S. filicula must be accounted one of the more 

 local species, though it ranges from the north of Scotland 

 to Cornwall. In the south-west district it must be very 

 rare. Mr. Couch includes it in his ' Cornish Fauna/ but 

 I have never met with it amongst the large quantities of 

 trawl-refuse from Brixham and Plymouth which I have 

 examined from time to time, nor has it occurred to me in 

 the course of a lengthened and careful examination of the 

 Devon and Cornish coasts. It is common near Liverpool 

 and along the north eastern coast (Scarborough, Filey, &c.) . 

 Mr. Peach finds it " rather plentiful " at Peterhead, and 



