A LIST OF THE MARINE ALG.E OF BEEWICK-ON-TWEED. 381 



by including all new species published up to the present year, and 

 by embodying his own researches into the genus Fissidens, and 

 those of M. Cardot into the more puzzling Sphagnum. There is a 

 queer printer's error in the introduction, which makes it appear 

 that the expected publication of several new species in certain 

 journals is, instead of being worth noting, " worth nothing." 



A. G. 



A List of the Marine Alga of Berwick- on-Twee A. By E. A. L. 

 Batters, B.A., LL.B., F.L.S. [Reprinted from the Ber- 

 wickshire Naturalists' Club Transactions, 1889] . Alnwick, 

 pp. 171, tab. 5. 



Mr. Batters is to be congratulated on the publication of his 

 admirable list. The performance is practically his own from 

 beginning to end, since as a foundation he had merely the meagre 

 enumeration of the seaweeds of this district made thirty-five years 

 ago by Dr. Johnston. There is probably no other locality in 

 Britain so rich in species as the coast northwards of Berwick-on 

 Tweed, and when it is stated that the exploration of it has been 

 accomplished by Mr. Batters almost, if not, single-handed, the 

 student of phycology will know the extent of labour and research 

 involved. To do this thoroughly Mr. Batters has visited Berwick 

 at all seasons, and has made particular note of those minute forms — 

 microscopic forms as they are called — so commonly overlooked. 

 This examination has led to the discovery of forms new to science, 

 as well as to Britain, among which may be mentioned here the 

 generic form Battersia of Beinke. There was another difficulty in 

 performing this task. Since the publication of Harvey's ' Phycologia 

 Britannica,' the nomenclature of British Algae has been revolution- 

 ized and numerous species have been added of which there has been 

 little more than obscure record made in journals. He had therefore 

 to adopt a new system in consonance with modern lights in 

 phycology. In this again Mr. Batters has been not only judicious 

 in selecting from among rival systems, but almost painfully exact 

 in the quotation of names, &c. 



Under each species there are cited, a published description, 

 figure, no. in exsiccata, synonymy (where such exist), its habitat, 

 and in nearly all cases a discussion of the position, affinities, &c, 

 of the species. At the beginning there is an introduction dealing 

 with the distribution of the species in the district, and a list of 

 classes, orders and genera. At the end an artificial key, a biblio- 

 graphy, index and description of plates, as well as a list of the 

 Bpecies in the ' Phycologia Britannica ' that have changed name 

 since its publication, both old and new names being given. From 

 the list it appears that there are 119 genera and 271 species in the 

 Berwick Marine Flora, — a very limited district, — and 78 of these 

 species have been ;ntded to the British Flora, since the publication 

 of the 'Phycologia Britannica.' 



It hardly needs saying, therefore, that we have here by far the 

 most solid contribution to British phycology since the publication 



