1888.] MICROSCOPICAL JOURNAL. 106 



Diatoms of Atlantic City and Ticinity.* 



By C. henry KAIN, 



PHILADELPHIA, PA. 



There is a popular belief that it is quite useless to attempt to collect diatoms 

 in the winter, and while this is mainly true as regards fresh-water species, 

 it is not so with the marine forms. The only fresh-water species that the 

 writer ever collected in abundance during the winter was Meridian cii'culare. 

 which was gathered from under the ice in January ; but some marine species 

 may be found in greater abundance during the winter months than at any 

 other time. In order to know a locality thoroughly, however, it should be 

 inspected both in summer and in winter. 



The visitor to Atlantic City who is hunting diatoms may always be grati- 

 fied by taking the street cars and riding to the inlet. Two or three hundred 

 yards before reaching the terminus of the road a number of large brackish 

 pools may be observed on the meadows just south of the railway. These 

 pools are quite shallow, and are prolific collecting-grounds at all seasons of 

 the year. If a day be chosen when the sun shines brightly, the surface of the 

 mud is coated a rich brown by the myriads of diatoms which rise to the light, 

 and, if a gentle wind is blowing, the scum which is driven to the far shore by 

 the wind is often composed entirely of diatoms without admixture of sand. 

 On Christmas Day, i8S6, I collected in this way a very pure XoX-oi Nitzschi a 

 ei)ithemioides^ and in another pool only a few yards away an equally pure 

 gathering of JVavicula vetieta. Sometimes very bright brown patches of 

 diatoms cover the surface of the mud, and the collector, in his anxiety to secure 

 a large gathering, is tempted to collect mud and all with the expectation ot 

 separating the diatoms from the mud by washing and whirling. The follow- 

 ing plan will be found much better : — Half fill a bottle with water ; touch 

 one of these brow n patches lightly with the tip of the finger, and the diatoms 

 will adhere ; then place the finger over the mouth of the bottle and shake ; 

 the diatoms are of course w^ashed off' and remain. By repeating this process 

 again and again the water finally becomes quite brown. By the time the 

 collector reaches home the diatoms will have settled to the bottom, and the 

 water may be poured oft' and the diatoms cleaned. It is worth while to ex- 

 amine under the collecting lens every promising patch of brown mud, for 

 very pure gatherings of quite diflerent species may often be collected \vithin 

 a few feet of each other. The species of which pure gatherings may be had 

 in these pools are Nitzschia cpithemioides^ Navicula veneta, Epithemia 

 miisculiis^ and Scoliopleuro tiunida. 



A few rods south of the landing at the inlet is a flat which is uncovered at 

 low water. Here may be collected Schizonetna A?nericam(?n^ Schizonema 

 Grevillii^ and Berkleya fragilis ; and lodged upon the shells, and growing 

 upon the piling, specimens of algte may be obtained, which are often loaded 

 with Cocconeis and other diatoms. 



Out in the bay may be found flats, often acres in extent, where eel-grass is 

 abundant. The grass is often loaded down with alga, which is parasitic upon 

 it, and the alga in turn is often full of diatoms. As the water is shallow, a 

 crab-net answers very well for dredging purposes, a single haul often furnish- 

 ing a large lot of interesting specimens. I do not know what a visit to these 

 flats in winter would reveal, but in August they are rich collecting-grounds 



It is also worth while to visit Longport, south of Atlantic City, for here, 

 when the wind is west, quantities of algae are blown over and stranded upon 

 the shore of the thoroughfare. It may be mentioned in passing that the red 

 species of algae are the most prolific. 



* Reprinted from Torrey Bulletin, May, '88. 



