REVIEWS. 231 



and those who are debarred from that pleasure may still form a very agreeable 

 idea of what may be seen on the sea-shore, and may easily imagine themselves 

 in company with some of the strange forms which are so graphically described. 

 The moral tone of the book too is so healthy, that were it on this ground 

 alone, we should be very glad to see it in very large circulation; and while from 

 its correctness it is suited to the advanced naturalist, its simplicity would 

 strongly recommend it to the young. 



The Sea-weed Collector's Guide; containing plain instructions for collecting and 

 preserving, and a list of all the known species and localities in Great 

 Britain. By J. Cocks, M. D., Devonport. London: Van Voorst, 1853. 

 p. p. 120, One Coloured Plate. 



This little book has been written by Dr. Cocks to supply a want very 

 generally felt for more detailed directions for preserving Algoe than are to be 

 found in any of the little treatises previously published. 



In the first chapter will be found some useful general information on the nature 

 and structure of Sea-weeds; and in the second the author enters fully and plainly 

 into the best modes of collecting, setting out, and preserving specimens of the 

 various kinds of Sea-weeds, The following short extract will give some idea of 

 this portion of the work: — 



"After gathering our plants, the next point to be attended to is to give them a good washing 

 before leaving the shore, either in the sea or in some of the pools left by the receding tide, 

 removing from them, at the same time, as far as may be practicable, all fragments of decayed 

 sea-weede, and other extraneous bodies, such as particles of sand and gravel, portions of the 

 softened surface of sandstone or argillaceous rock on which the plants have been growing, together 

 with the smaller Testacea, &c., &c. 



When gathering our plants, however, it cannot be expected we can devote any considerable 

 portion of time to this cleansing, our principal object being to collect, and remembering that 

 we shall be compelled to relinquish our pursuit soon after the tide begins to flow; for, after 

 all, on our return home, it will be found there is still a great deal of work to do before the 

 specimens are in a fit state to be finally committed to paper, since foreign substances will still 

 remain attached to them with much pertinacity even after we have supposed them to be per- 

 fectly clean." 



The third chapter is devoted to the methods of identification of the Algaj 

 by the microscope, and also to some very useful instructions in the best ways 

 of preparing and mounting them for the microscope. This portion of the book 

 will be found very valuable, for the microscope is essentially necessary to enable 

 us to recognise, with certainty, many of the more delicate Sea- weeds: without 

 it we are all uncertainty, with it mistake is almost impossible. 



The next part of the book is occupied with a list of all our native species 

 of Sea-weeds, with descriptions of the Orders and Genera; and the whole 

 concludes with an alphabetical index of the species, with localities, which will 

 doubtless prove of much assistance to collectors. 



To any one who wishes to preserve his Sea- weeds in the best manner, this 

 little book will be of the greatest assistance. 



