294 COLLECTING SEA-WEEDS. 



hue, bearing no slight resemblance to the tresses of 

 some fair lady : this also is a Laminar ia^ but I am 

 not quite sure whether it is the young state of the 

 former species, or entitled to a name of its own. In 

 the latter case, it is the L. phylUtis of botanists. 



In these deep pools grow also many bunches of 

 broad dark-red leaves, generally about as large as 

 one's hand, smooth and glossy, of a dark crimson 

 hue, but apt to run off into a pale greenish tint 

 towards the tips ; their edges have often little leaves 

 growing on them. It is the Dulse or Dillis [Bliody- 

 menia palmata), which is eaten by the poor of our 

 northern shores as a luxury. 



This is a showy plant, very beautiful when its 

 tufts of large deep-red fronds are seen in the sea, 

 where the perpetual wash of the waves keeps their 

 surface clean and glossy, but not very suitable for an 

 Aquarium. Its leaves soon decay ; spots of orange- 

 colour begin speedily to appear, which increase fast, 

 and, uniting into large patches, slough off in slimy 

 shreds. The appearance of an orange-colour, on 

 crimson or purple weeds, is always a sign of the 

 death of that part, and is the infallible precursor of 

 decay. As soon as it appears, or at least if it begins 

 to increase, the specimen should be ejected without 

 mercy ; as the diffusion of the gases from decaying 

 vegetable matter is speedily fatal to most animals. 



In deep pools, and narrow clefts near the verge 

 of lowest water, where the overshadowing rock ex- 

 cludes the sun's rays, and imparts a genial obscurity, 

 grow several of our most delicate and beautiful Alga. 

 Foremost among them is the Oak-leaved Delesseria 



