CALIFORNIA FISH AND GAME. 109 
were devoid of kelp, were about ten to twelve feet in width and were 
parallel to each other, and as a whole parallel to the trend of the coast. 
Two explanations of the phenomenon ean be given: First, this condi- 
tion might have been caused by the covering up of portions of the 
rocks to which the plant attaches its holdfast by the ‘‘sand waves”’ 
caused by the meeting of two currents, one from Santa Monica Bay, 
flowing southward, and the eddy current, near the shore, flowing north- 
ward. Second, geologically the land adjacent to this bed belongs to 
the Quaternary system, which all shows more or less deformation. 
The power of the sea which is derived chiefly from the winds, makes 
an effective eroding agent, and, since the land resists erosion, according 
to the coherence of the rock masses, the harder offering more resistance 
and the softer being moved by the onrush of the waves along the beach 
in the direction of the heaviest storms or prevailing winds, that which 
is fine enough is taken up by the water and deposited in quieter 
regions beyond the action of the waves. Owing to the deformation of 
the stratification of the land, and the upturned hard strata, following the 
configuration of the deposition, would present long, comparatively flat, 
parallel ridges upon which the plant might attach itself, while the 
‘*valleys’’ or softer portions between the harder strata, would be of 
such a nature that the plants, if attached, would break away, and thus 
leave voids in the continuation of the beds. 
Another idiosyneracy of the same bed, which can be explained 
more easily by the first speculation given above, is seen in the fact that 
the following year these ‘‘waterlanes’’ had entirely disappeared and in 
their stead there had appeared a large oval-shaped clear patch, appar- 
ently devoid of kelp. This was a little farther northward and closer in 
shore, but it possessed the same general trend on its longer diameter as 
the ‘‘waterlanes.’’ Undoubtedly the changes of the current had depos- 
ited a sort of ‘‘bar’’ of sand, which covered up the holdfasts, and the 
harvesters having cut their growing ends thus destroyed the plants in 
this area. 
A noticeable fact in the growth of kelp is that the leaves are much 
longer and broader and the stipe or stem heavier and thicker in the 
kelp on the surface than is the case with the kelp that is always 
beneath the surface. Once on the surface the growth is greater, owing 
to the plant now being able by photosynthesis to build up plant material. 
The cells admitting the penetration of the various salts held in solution, 
more especially the potash, stimulate nuclear division, and cause the leaf 
to expand and lkewise increase in weight. No doubt growth is aided 
by osmotic pressure also, as well as by the influence of the sun’s rays. 
Since all matter absorbed by the plants must pass through the cell 
wall, and since no solid material can be taken up as nutriment, the food, 
on entering the cell walls, must be either in a liquid or gaseous state. 
The cells not only allow the entrance of a fluid, but also some of the 
substances held in the solution. This free path of a solution, having 
erystalloids in suspension, is of vital importance in the upbuilding of 
the plant, and incidentally in the maintenance of a potash plant. or 
factory, for without this tiny cell’s power to absorb the potash from the 
ocean, America would be dependent upon the Strassfurt and various 
smaller deposits of crude salts, as before. 
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