CHAPTER XVI 



ON FLOWERS OF THE WATER 



The first plant— Seaweeds in hot baths— Breaking of the meres— Gory 

 Dew— Plants driven back to the water — Marsh plants— Fleur-de- 

 lis — Reeds and rushes— Floating islands — Water-lilies — Victcyria 

 regia — Plants 180 feet deep — Life in a pond, as seen by an in- 

 habitant — Fish-farming— The useful Diatom— Willows and Alders — 

 Polluted streams— The Hornwort— The Florida Hyacinth — Reeds 

 and Grass-reeds— The richest lands in the world — Papyrus of Egypt 

 — Birds and hippopotami— Fever and ague. 



WHAT was the first green plant ? When was the 

 surface of the earth first covered with flowers? 

 Such questions are quite impossible to answer. We 

 cannot even tell how plants ever came to exist on the earth 

 at all. Wonderful as are the stories of the hardihood of 

 bacteria, of spores, and of seeds, it is not possible to imagine 

 that they could have been whirled or drifted through infinite 

 space to this particular planet. 



Yet it is at least probable that the first real plant on this 

 world was a seaweed or alga. 



In Germany and Austria there are certain springs in which 

 the water coming from immense depths is at an exceedingly 

 high temperature. These hot springs are used as natural 

 hot baths, and have many interesting peculiarities. Amongst 

 others there is the fact that certain seaweeds or algae are 

 found luxuriating in the hot water. Some of these can even 

 live in springs with a temperature of 176° F. ! 



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