CALIFORNIAN HOT SPRING. 251 



make a very careful examination of the material and offer 

 the results to the readers of this journal. In this connection 

 the following extract from a letter of Mrs. Partz to her 

 brother is very relevant : 



" I send you a few samples of the singular vegetation 

 developed in the hot springs of our valley. These springs 

 rise from the earth in an area of about eighty square feet, 

 which forms a basin or pond that pours its hot waters into a 

 narrow creek. In the basin are produced the first forms, 

 partly at a temperature of 124° — lo5° Fahr. Gradually in 

 the creek and to a distance of 100 yards from the springs 

 are developed, at a temperature of 110° — 120° Fahr., the 

 Algse, some growing to a length of over two feet, and looking 

 like bunches of waving hair of the most beautiful green. 

 Below 100 Fahr., these plants cease to grow, and give way 

 to a slimy fungus growth, though likewise of a beautiful 

 green, which, finally, as the temperature of the water de- 

 creases, also disappears. They are very difficult to preserve, 

 being of so soft and pulpy a nature as not to bear the least 

 handling, and must be carried in their native hot water to 

 the house, very few at a time, and floated upon paper. After 

 being taken from the water and allowed to cool they become 

 a black pulpy mass. But more strange than the vegetable 

 are the animal organizations, whose germs, probably through 

 modifications of successive generations, have finally become 

 indigenous to these strange precincts. Mr. Partz and myself 

 saw in the clear water of the basin a very sprightly spider- 

 like creature running nimbly over the ground, where the 

 water was 124° Fahr., and on another occasion dipped out 

 two tiny red worms." 



In regard to the temperatures given, and the observation 

 as to the presence of animal life in the thermal waters, Mr. 

 Wm. Gabb, of the State Geological Survey, states that he 

 has visited the locality, knows Mrs. Partz very well, and 

 that whatever she says may be relied on as accurate. 



The colour of the dried specimen varies from a very 

 elegant bluish green to dirty greenish and fuscous brown. 

 After somewhat prolonged soaking in hot water, the speci- 

 mens regained apparently their original form and dimensions, 

 and were found to be in very good condition for microscopical 

 study. 



The plant in its earliest stages appears to consist simply of 

 cylindrical filaments, which are so small that they are re- 

 solved with some difficulty into the component cells by a 

 first-class one-fifth objective. Fronds composed entirely of 

 filaments of this description were received. Some of these 



VOL. VIII. NEW SER. T 



