Ceramiere.'] grifpithsia. 195 



was publislied I was acquainted with this rare and beau- 

 tiful plant only by the plate and description of it in ' Phy- 

 cologia Britannica/ but I have since been favoured with a 

 fine specimen of it by the Rev. W. S. Hore. 



7. Griffithsia setacea^ Agardh. 



This is by far the most common of the Griffithslce. It is 

 found in deep rock-pools. It is common in England and 

 Ireland. It is not common in Ayrshire ; but is found in 

 Arran, and very abundantly in the south of Kintyre. It is 

 very common in the Frith of Forth, from which specimens 

 rich in fruit have been sent to me in July by D. L., jun. 

 The first specimen I got with its involucres raised on club- 

 shaped stalks was found by the Eev. Gilbert Laing, near 

 Portobello. I scarcely knew what it was. 



It is very rigid when fresh ; but it soon loses this rigidity 

 when exposed to the air, or when put in fresh water. In 

 fresh water it gives all the symptoms of sudden and violent 

 death. The membrane containing the fine carmine colouring 

 matter bursts with a crackling noise. The plant yields its 

 hearths blood, and dies ; yet even in death it is beautiful. 

 Professor Harvey says that it stands confinement well ; that 

 a tuft placed in a closed bottle of sea-water, at the end of 

 more than two years' confinement, was as fresh and healthy 



