18 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



little as possible to the air. The red sea-weeds I have 

 found most successful. Fuci and Laminarise, besides 

 being unwieldy and unattractive, discharge so copious 

 a quantity of mucus as to thicken and vitiate the water. 

 The Ulvse and Enter omorphse, on the other hand, are 

 apt to lose their colour, take the appearance of wet 

 silver-paper or colourless membrane, and presently 

 decay and slough from their attachments. The species 

 that I have found most capable of being preserved in 

 a living state are, Chondrus crispus, the Delesseria, 

 and Iridea edulis. The last-named is the very best of 

 all, and next to it is Delesseria sanguined, for maintain- 

 ing the purity of the water, while the colours and forms 

 of these render them very beautiful objects in a vase 

 of clear water, particularly when the light, as from a 

 window, is transmitted through their transparent 

 fronds." 



In a communication made by Mr. "Warington to 

 the British Association'*, he stated that the result of 

 his experiments to ascertain the kind of sea-weed best 

 fitted for maintaining the balance with animal life in 

 a vivarium, was, under ordinary circumstances, in fa- 

 vour of the CHLOROSPERMS, or green sea- weeds ; and 

 that the RHODOSPERMS, or red sea-weeds, submitted 

 to the like conditions, did not answer the purpose de- 

 sired, and at the same time retain their colour and 

 beauty, inasmuch as they very soon become coated 

 with a growth of short and brown Confervse (Conferva 

 tortuosa ?), which entirely mantled the whole surface 

 of the fronds, and destroyed their characteristic ap- 

 pearance. During these investigations, however, it 



* Ann. Nat. Hist. 1854. 



