SEAWEEDS. 135 



See as they float along, the entangled weeds 

 Slowly approach, upborne on bladdery heads, 

 Wait till they land, and you shall then behold 

 Myriads of living points ; the unaided eve 

 Can but the fire, and not the form, descry." 



There is a species of Laminaria which grows in the 

 deep sea, and has a bulbous root, and another, an in- 

 habitant of sandy shores in the South of England, which 

 only attains the height of a few inches. All the members 

 of this family produce good kelp. 



Some delicate feathery weeds were growing upon the 

 Laminaria fronds which we gathered and reserved for 

 quiet examination at our lodgings, and turning from the 

 rocks we began to retrace our steps. 



Tangled masses of Sea Whipcord (Chorda filum, 

 Plate I., fig. 4), were brought up by the returning tide, 

 some of these were hairy, but most were rubbed smooth 

 by the action of the waves. This weed grows to the 

 length of 30 or 40 feet, the frond is hollow, but interrupted 

 every few inches so as to form chambers ; the air which 

 fills these hollows, buoys up the plant as the air vessels 

 do the Fuci : sailors term it " dead men's ropes," it is 

 very dangerous in catching and detaining any floatim: 

 object, and would be fatal to any swimmer who 

 ventured amongst it, for the cords though thin are very 

 tough. 



A small order of more oLelicate weeds succeeds that of 

 the Laminaria, they are remarkable for bearing little tufts 

 of fine olive filaments on the frond ; they become soft on 

 exposure to the air, and they possess the property of 

 decomposing other Algae with which they come in contact. 



