received, they could not be referred to as comprehensively as might be 

 desirable; nevertheless, they were of great assistance. 



The University of Michigan Press has kindly allow^ed the author to 

 draw freely upon his handbook of North American Atlantic coast algae 

 in preparing the descriptions of the algae secured on the Hancock Expe- 

 ditions. 



Finally, cordial acknowledgement is made of the generous action of 

 the Regents of the University of Michigan, which permitted joining 

 these expeditions, and the Executive Board of the Rackham School of 

 Graduate Studies for grants from the Faculty Research Fund for various 

 expenses incident to the study. 



Because of the short periods available at single stations, often only a 

 few hours or the duration of a low tide, comprehensive studies of an area 

 were impossible. Each represents but a reconnaissance visit ; the sum total 

 is probably considerably more complete because of overlapping floras, but 

 the ranges of many of the algae probably falsely appear very limited. The 

 classification of the material has proved veiy difficult. Our knowledge of 

 the Northwest coast flora is fairly good down to southern California, but 

 an account of the Rhodophyceae has never been assembled. Partial collec- 

 tions have been made in the Gulf of California, the Revilla Gigedo Is., 

 and in a small way from the Galapagos Is. Thence to Peru there are 

 only a few scattering applicable reports of algae. Our knowledge of 

 Chilean algae is fragmentaiy and old. The area of this present report is, 

 then, the least known of the whole West coast, it is climatically re- 

 stricted, many elements of the flora seem rather isolated, and a conspicu- 

 ous part of it is hitherto undescribed. 



Since there has been less historical material on which to base this 

 floristic study than usual, the writer has felt it wise to differentiate his 

 plants as far as feasible from species of other areas. While this may result 

 with further knowledge in reduction to synonymy of sundry names, it will 

 be less damaging than confusing different plants under the same name, 

 which is the alternative risk. From lack of complete reproductive m.aterial 

 and from the intrinsic difficulty of studying the histology of marine algae 

 from dried material, only tentative allocation of many new species to 

 genus could be made. While regretting the manifest weaknesses of this 

 report in these respects, the writer feels that they are largely inherent in 

 a pioneering survey of this scope. 



The first set of specimens, including the technical types of the newly 

 described species, will be deposited with the Hancock Foundation; a 

 second set, including portions of most of the type collections, in the her- 

 barium of the University of Michigan ; duplicates will be distributed from 



these institutions. 



iv 



