472 ALG^. [part II. 



them, such as the different kinds of Fucus, 

 inhabit the sea ; by the waves of wliich they 

 are torn up from their native beds, and washed 

 on shore by the tides. Others are found in the 

 form of Confervse, or green slime, on the sur- 

 face of stagnant ponds, or on damp stone or 

 gravel- walks ; and others appear to form one 

 of the connecting links between vegetable and 

 animal life, as the joints in which they are pro- 

 duced possess the power of separating from 

 each other, and in their divided state so closely 

 resemble animals, as to puzzle naturalists to 

 know where to place them. The Algse are 

 divided by botanists into three classes ; viz., 

 the jointless, the jointed, and the disjointed. 

 The jointless Algae are by far the most numer- 

 ous ; and they comprehend all those broad flat 

 jelly-like substances which are called by the 

 popular names of tangle and dulse on the 

 coast, and which are frequently eaten. To this 

 division belong the kinds of sea-weed that are 

 used for making kelp ; those from which iodine 

 is procured ; those forming the celebrated 

 Chinese birds' nests ; those sold in the oil- 

 shops under the name of laver ; and those used 

 by farmers as manure. The jointed Algae are 

 very inferior in the scale of creation to the first 

 division ; but the Confervas (see/ in Jig. 149) 

 are well known, from the rapidity with which 



