HARDWICKE'S SC lEN CE-GOS S I P. 



169 



COLLECTING AND PEESEEVING. 



No. YII— SEAWEEDS. 

 By ^\ . IT. GnATTAXX, 



N a former article 

 published in 

 Science - Gossip 

 a iew years ago, 

 I gave some di- 

 rections for col- 

 lecting and pre- 

 serving Marine 

 Algse, or seaweeds, and 

 although, I think, it would 

 be difficult to simplify those 

 directions, or even to add 

 much that would be really 

 serviceable to young begin- 

 ners in this delightful pur- 

 suit, it is my intention, in 

 going over the ground once 

 more, to be as explicit as I 

 possibly can ; and here, on 

 the threshold of the subject, 

 I have a few words to say to 

 one or two occasional contributors to this journal, 

 who, in calling attention to the beauty of mai'ine 

 vegetation, and urging young persons to collect and 

 preserve Algse, have advised them to ignore books on 

 the subject, and to go to the shore, use their own 

 eyes, and collect for themselves, &c. I am sorry very 

 greatly to differ with such advice. Collecting in 

 this way may be amusing enough to those who care 

 not for science, but when it leads to parcels of sea- 

 weeds, picked up at random, being sent to botanists 

 with a request that the names of such plants should 

 be sent to the writer, it is the reverse of pleasure 

 to the scientific botanist, for it gives him infinite 

 trouble, and enables him to convey but very imper- 

 fect information to his applicant. The editor of 

 this journal has often been thus appealed to, and 

 packages of decayed rubbish have frequently been 

 sent to me for examination, containing species, or 

 No. 92. 



rather fragments of plants, which for the most part, 

 were utterly worthless and defied identification. 



Almostall collectors commence by mounting plants 

 which a little experience proves to be really what 

 the old poet termed " (/Iga projeda vilior" ; but as 

 sfeaweed-gathering, like everything else, requires 

 practice, beginners must not be disappointed 

 because they do not find rarities or fine specimens 

 whenever and wherever they may seek for them. 



When I think of the ditficullies I experienced at 

 the outset of my study of marine botany, especially 

 in the collecting and drying of seaweeds, I feel 

 strongly inclined to urge all beginners to obtain 

 some information concerning Marine Algae before 

 they go to the shore to collect for themselves. A 

 very few hours of study with an experienced algolo- 

 gist, or even a perusal of some illustrated work on 

 British algte, will save much trouble and materially 

 assist the unpractised eye in selecting specimens 

 for the herbarium. I may here mention as highly 

 useful to incipient algologists Dr. Landsborough's 

 "British Seaweeds," and Professor Harvey's 

 " Manual," either of which may be obtained for a few 

 shillings; but if my readers are resident in Loudon, 

 I advise them to pay a few visits to the Library of 

 the British Museum, and there inspect Dr. Harvey's 

 " Phycologia Britannica." In this magnificent 

 work they will find coloured figures of nearly every 

 British seaweed, with drawings from magnified 

 portions, and various structural details of the 

 highest value to students'; and I once more impress 

 on all collectors the importance of some degree o f 

 book-learning ere they sally forth, bag or vasculum 

 in hand, to cull the lovely " flowers of the ocean," 

 or gather what best may please them from the 

 rejectamenta on the shore. 



■ If the collector wishes to learn, not merely the 

 names of plants, but to distinguish species, he will do 

 well to provide himself with a copy of Harvey's 



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