1855.] 411 



shoal, interspersed with sedge islands, sand-bars, oyster and clam beds. The 

 main channel, is deep, narrow, and crooked ; and to a person unacquainted 

 with the course, difficult to navigate. 



Connected with the bay, on the south, is a flat called "Bond's-bar," contain- 

 ing some hundreds of acres, which, on the recess of the tide, is left nearly bare. 



A vigorous growth of Zostera marina occupies a large portion of this bar. 



A narrow channel half a mile in length, and leading into " Little Bay " on 

 the south, separates this bar from the main land, which is Beesley's Point. 

 " Little Bay," when viewed from the main land at high water, presents the 

 appearance of a lake, a mile in length, and nearly the same in width. The 

 water is shoal, and when the tide is out, a mud-flat of considerable extent is left 

 bare. 



At the head of Little Bay, is a thoroughfare extending south, parallel with 

 the coast line, and navigable for boats to Cape Island. This thoroughfare is 

 frequently branched, forming islands, and sometimes extends into wide bays. 

 It connects with the sea by various inlets, the most important of which is 

 Corson's, Townsend's and Hereford, forming narrow islands known as " Beaches/' 

 and called respectively "Peck's Beach," " Ludlum's Beach" and "Learning's 

 Beach." 



The sea along the sandy coast is shallow, and the action of the breakers vio- 

 lent, which, together with frequent heavy gales from the north east, render it 

 peculiarly unfavorable for the growth of marine vegetation. Yet when we explore 

 the inlets, the thoroughfares, and the land-locked bays with their coves, secure 

 from the violence of winds and waves, we find them far from being so unprolific 

 as they might seem. The sandy-mud bottoms of these shallow waters will be 

 found carpeted with the beautiful membranous expansions of the Viva latisssi?na, 

 mingling with the elongated fronds of Enteromorpha intestinalis, whilst a luxurious 

 growth of Zostera marina affords a resting-place for the floating spores of the 

 gaudy Rhodosperms. 



The total absence of rocks, or stones of any kind, (save a few small pebbles 

 on the southern shore of the Great Egg-Harbor Bay) produces an unceasing de- 

 mand for a favorable place for the future growth and propagation of species. 



Hence, every submerged substance suited to their condition, is immediately 

 invested not only with Alga, but with Sertularice and various other Zoophytes. 



The limited number of the species of marine Algcc at Beesley's Point must be 

 attributed to the want of a suitable place, or foot-hold for development, as the 

 climate and the water, it would seem, supply all the other conditions favorable 

 to their growth. 



The following catalogue, embracing five Melanosperms, nineteen Rhodo- 

 sperms, and six Chlorosperms, are all that I have as yet been able to detect. A 

 more careful search may probably supply a few more species. 



In the classification, and names of the species, I have followed that emi- 

 nent Algologist, Hon. Win. H. Harvey, in his "Nereis Boreali- Americana,'' pub- 

 lished by the Smithsonian Institute at Washington. 



Series I. MELANOSPERMELE. 



Fucus vesiculosus, Linn. Very common between tide marks, on the shores 

 of the Bays, and the thoroughfares ; not unfrequently attached to sods by a root 

 penetrating several inches into the soil, throwing off numerous lateral slioots 

 having the appearance of undeveloped fronds, forming a strong hold-fast, and 

 affording an interesting illustration of the modification of a discoid root, where 

 local circumstances are unfavorable to such expansions. It is, however, more 

 frequently found adhering by a conical disc to mussels, {Modiola plicatula) 

 which, at high water, unable to resist the buoyancy of the full grown planl with 

 its inflated vesicles, are, by degrees, wrested from their place of growth and cast 

 upon the shore to perish, when the Fucus together with other marine plaots are- 

 carried away by the inhabitants for manure. 



Stilophori rhizodes, J. Ag. Rather rare ; on old shells, &c , near low- water 

 mark. The few specimens which I obtained are fertile, of vigorous growth, 

 and densely covered with wart-like fructification. 



