THE MARINE ALG^E OF NEW ENGLAND. 81 



E. fitcicola, Fries; Phyc. Brit, PI. 240; Ner. Am. Bor.. Vol. I, PI. 

 1 1 b. ( PhycophUa fucorum and P. Agardhii, Kiitz., Tab. Phyc, Vol. VIII, 

 PI. 95, Fig. 2, and PI. 96, Fig. 1.) PI. 7, Fig. 3. 



Fronds tufted, half an inch to an inch in thickness, basal portion dis- 

 tinct, subglobose, exserted filaments about .05 mm broad, attenuated at 

 base, obtuse at apex, cells of lower portion broader than long, becoming 

 longer in the upper portion ; paraphyses recurved, clavate, submonili- 

 form; unilocular sporangia .07-8 mm broad by .15-20""" long, pyriform or 

 obovate-rhombic. 



Common on Fuel along the whole coast. 



On submerged wood work, Eastport, Peak's Island, Maine. 



A common parasite, forming small tufts on Fuci. There seems to be but one species 

 on the coast of New England, although E. lubrica, Rupr., may be expected on Halo- 

 saccion. According to Areschoug, E. lubrica differs from E.fucicola in the shorter cells 

 and the decidedly elongated base of the free filaments, but in these respects Euro- 

 pean specimens of E. fitcicola vary greatly. Possibly the form occurring on wood at 

 Eastport may be rather referred to E. lubrica. Ruprecht, in Phycologia Ochotensis, 

 mentions an Elachistea from Canada parasitic on Halosaccion, which he considers dis- 

 tinct from both E. lubrica and E. fitcicola, to which he gives the provisional name ot 

 E. canadensis. It is distinguished from E. fitcicola "by the thicker filaments, which 

 never give off free branches at the base, by the dense, indistinctly filamentous structure 

 of the basal layer, and by the greater number of short filaments and few long filaments." 

 From Ruprecht's description it is hardly likely that the species will ever bo recog- 

 nized by American collectors. The views of Ruprecht with regard to development 

 in alga? are curiously shown in his remarks on Elachista, Hyrionema, and Leathcsia. 

 He thinks it very probable that the genera named were "originally organs of fructifi- 

 cation of HaUdrys, Cijstoscira, &c., which in course of time have not developed, and 

 have in this way formed what appear to be stereotyped species." Although the fact 

 is not as Ruprecht supposed, this pronounced tendency to Darwinism is remarkable 

 when we think that Ruprecht wrote in 1850. 



MYEIACTIS, Kiitz., emend. 



(From fivpioc, countless, and cktic, a ray.) 



Fronds as in Elachistea, but destitute of exserted colored filaments. 



A comparison of the two admirable plates of Elachistea scutulata and Elachistea (Mtj- 

 r'iactis) pulmnata in the Etudes Phycologiques of Thuret and Bornet will give a clear 

 notion of the difference of the two genera. 



M. pulvinata, Kiitz. Var. minor. (Elachistea pulvinata, Harv., in 

 Etudes Phycologiques, p. 18, PI. 7 — Elachistea attenuata, Harv., Phyc. 

 Brit,, PL 28.) 



Fronds forming minute tufts, basal portion slightly developed, giv- 

 ing off lateral filaments, which penetrate the substratum; paraphyses 

 slightly curved, fusiform, attenuated at base, somewhat moniliform; 

 cells .0075-1 S0 mm broad, two or three times as long; plurilocular spo- 

 rangia very numerous, clustered at the base of the paraphyses, cylindri- 

 S. Miss. 59 6 



