70 CONFEEVACE^. 



emitting at short intervals tufts of raultifid bright^green ramuli. Ag. Syst. Alg. p. 28. 

 Lyngb. Hyd. Dan. t. G5,fig. C. Kutz. Sp. Alg. p. 532. Rass. Brit. Fr. W. Alg. 

 p. 125, t. 9, Jig. 1-2. 



Hab. On sticks and stones, in running streams and ponds. Near West Point, Pi'of. 

 Bailey. Cumberland, Khode Island, Mr. Olney. South Carolina, Mr. Ravenel. (v. v.) 



Frond gelatinous, varying greatly in size and in ramification ; the younger specimens 

 thicker, with fewer branches ; the older attenuated and compound. The American 

 specimens before me are 1-3 inches long, and from 1-2 inches in the expansion of the 

 branches. Their fronds are not more than half a line in diameter, linear, filiform, and 

 excessively branched, the branches very much crowded on a prolonged axis, from which 

 they issue without order and are directed to all sides. They are sub-dichotomous, and 

 more or less densely set with divaricated, simple or forked ramuli. When a portion of 

 a branch is examined with a magnifier, it is seen to be composed of several parallel, 

 longitudinal, articulated filaments, lying apart from each other, being separated by a 

 gelatinous matrix ; their cells are 4-6 times as long as broad, hyaline or marked with 

 a central transverse band of granules, and they emit, at short intervals, horizontally 

 spreading, multifid, coloured ramuli. The branching of the ramuli is irregular, and 

 between fasciculate and pinnate, the ramification being sometimes densely crowded, 

 sometimes distant. The cells of these ramuli are filled with green endochrome ; they 

 are 2-3 times as long as broad, and the terminal cells, Avhich are short, are either 

 simple or carry at their summit a long bristle-shaped acumination. Substance gelatinous. 

 The plant closely adheres to paper in drying. 



This species occurs in fresh-water ponds and streams in all parts of Europe, and its 

 many minor varieties have received several names. All agree in microscopic structure. 

 The ramification of the gelatinous matrix alone is variable, and that is a character of 

 very little moment. Professor Bailey's specimens are labelled " Batrachospermum 

 Americanum, Schweinitz ;" a synonym referred by Agardh to his Drapamaldia 

 opposita, which is quite different from the Alga now described. 



2. Cii^TOPiiORA piriformis, Ag. ; frond globose, carnoso-gelatinous, formed of nume- 

 rous erect, radiating, sub-parallel filaments emitting to the circumference dichotomo- 

 multifid patent branches. Ag. Syst. p. 27. Hass. Brit. Fr. Wat. Alg. p. 128, t. 9, 

 Jig. 5-6. Kutz. Sp. Alg. p. 532. 



Hab. On sticks, in fresh- water ponds and ditches. Dr. Witt's Meadow, New York, 

 Prof. Bailey, (v. v.) 



Frond the size of a pea, or less, globose, several occurring together on the same stick, 

 gelatinous, but rather firm, bright green. When bruised between two glasses, and 

 examined under the microscope, the gelatinous matrix which forms the globe is seen to 

 be evervwhere filled with much branched filaments which rise from the base and radiate 



