Lammanece?\ laminaria. 123 



curled in a curious manner^ whicli renders it stout, and gives 

 the plant a spring to resist the billows. The knot enlarges 

 and becomes hollow, covering the roots which strike into 

 the clefts of the rock, and fibres proceeding from the bulb 

 strengthen the support, and enable the large plant better to 

 withstand the impulse of the waves. The bulb, being thickly 

 covered over with longish-shaped tubercles, is not unlike a 

 plum-pudding stuck over with cloves or almonds. The 

 bulbs are often cast ashore in winter and spring. The 

 largest bulb with us is about the size of a man^s head ; and 

 though it would not be sufficiently elegant as the head-gear 

 of a mermaid, a merman might do worse than clap it on 

 his pate as a bonnet, when he raises his head out of the 

 water in a breeze. Some tender little mollusks are wise 

 enough to take up their abode in the hollow of the ball, 

 where all is calm even when the storm is raging outside. 



It is strange that this plant escaped the notice of Linnseus, 

 and that even Eay did not distinguish it from L. digitata. 

 Mrs. Griffiths has paid particular attention to it, and has 

 measured the size of one which was a sufficient load for a 

 man^s shoulders. The bulb was about a foot in diameter. 

 When the fronds were spread out on the ground, they 

 formed a circle of at least twelve feet in diameter. It is the 



