PREFACE 



For a long time there has been a great need for a short and re- 

 latively elementary text-book on Phycology which would be 

 suitable for University students, and also for those schools which 

 include visits to marine biological stations as part of their curri- 

 culum. Such a text-book would not require to be too advanced and 

 yet should survey the whole field of phycological knowledge, not 

 only from the systematic but also from the physiological and 

 ecological viewpoints. The two most recent works on Phycology do 

 not entirely fulfil this function. Fritsch's Structure and Reproduc- 

 tion of the Algae must be regarded not only as a classic but also as a 

 monumental piece of work, but it is somewhat unwieldy in size for 

 the ordinary student and also it is a compendium of much that he 

 does not require to know. At the same time it is a book that no 

 University or research student in Phycology can afford to be 

 without, whereas this present volume does not pretend to cater for 

 the research student. The other work, Tilden's Algae and their Life 

 Relations, is also somewhat bulky, and although it is perhaps more 

 on the lines of the present volume, nevertheless it is primarily 

 concerned with systematic phycology. It seems to the present 

 author, therefore, that there is a place for a relatively short work on 

 the outlines of Phycology containing the amount of information 

 that could be conveyed in a course of lectures lasting over a period 

 of 22-24 weeks at the rate of one lecture per week. No attempt has 

 been made to produce any work more elaborate, primarily because 

 Fritsch's volumes will fulfil that need. These, then, are the reasons 

 for the appearance of this volume. 



Relatively few types have been selected from out of each 

 group; some of these have been described in considerable detail 

 whilst others are mentioned merely to illustrate the course of 

 development in either the vegetative or reproductive organs. Every 

 t}^pe is fully illustrated because the present author firmly believes 

 in this medium as the best means of teaching. Types that are 

 regarded as essential for first and second year students are indicated 

 by an asterisk, and even then it is not intended that they should 

 necessarily absorb all the details about these species. It may come 



