338 BRITISH SEA-WEEDS. \_Liatomacea. 



bright dots formed a crescent of sea-gems, adorning the fan. 

 Under this amber- coloured portion there was a i)ellucid 

 band, the lower part of the fan being amber-coloured, like 

 the upper. Aided by a microscope, the whole was so beau- 

 tiful that a lady to whom I showed a portion of LiatiopJiora 

 thus magnified, said she could not fall asleep for a long 

 time that night, as the lovely fans seemed ever before her 

 eyes ; and when she did sleep she dreamed of them. "Uliat 

 adds to the wonders of these Biaiomacem is, that they are 

 partly formed of flint, which they extract from the waters, 

 so that, though seemingly frail, they are imperishable ! 



Genus CY. SCIIIZONEMA, Aoarclli. 

 Gen. Char. Frustules in longitudinal series or scattered, and 

 enclosed within a simple or branched, gelatinous or membrana- 

 ceous frond, composed of one or several tubes. — The name is from 

 two Greek words signifying to divide, and a thread, as the typical 

 species are formed, as it were, by dividing the frond. — Harvey. 



1. ScHizoNEMA OBTUSUM, GvevUle. 



Uab. Parasitic on small Algaj in the sea. Trith of Forth, 

 Dr. Greville; Appin, Captain Carmichael ; Torquay, Mrs. 

 Grilliths ; coast of Antrim, Mr. D. Moore ; Leith, D. L., jun. 



%. SCIIIZONEMA IIELMIXTHOSUM, ChauC. 



