THE ALG/E. 



The Algje are flowerless chlorophyll-bearing water plants. 

 Although sometimes called seaweeds, they are not confined 

 to salt water, but are found in every body of fresh water, on 

 damp stones and soil, and on the trunks of trees. They are, 

 however, all true water plants, for the few that live out of 

 water can flourish only in the presence of abundant moisture. 



The Algae show the widest variety in form, size, and 

 structure. They may be unicellular or multicellular ; they may 

 be solitary, or gathered into larger or smaller families ; they 

 may grow in all directions to form a spherical thallus, or into 

 plates only one cell thick, or into branched or unbranched 

 filaments. When multicellular, all the cells may be alike, or 

 there may be a differentiation of cells, apical and root cells, 

 vegetative and sexual cells being found. The filamentous 

 thallus may present the appearance of a highly developed plant, 

 as in the Rhodophyceae or Characeae, or may be a single 

 simple thread, as in the Zygnemaceae. 



The coloring matter of the Algae, either diffused throughout 

 the cell wall, or aggregated in special bodies called chloroplasts, 

 is predominantly green ; but there is hardly any color known 

 which cannot be found in these plants, the colors running from 

 orange and red to purple and black. Their size differs as 

 greatly as their color ; some are so small as to test the best 

 microscopes, while others stretch/ two hundred feet from their 

 marine beds. 



The Algae multiply both by the sexual and the asexual 

 method. The asexual method is universal, the sexual is more 

 uncommon. They reproduce asexually in three ways: i, 

 By simple division of the mother-cell. In the multicellular 

 forms a small fragment or a branch may separate from the 

 mother plant to form a new one. 2, By means of spores, 

 which are formed from the contents of the vegetative cells, and 

 which have each a ce]l wall, and may or may not be motile. 3, 



