94 



THE AMEEICA]^ MONTHLY 



[May, 



Collecting at the Thousand 

 Islands. 



The Thousand Islands afford a 

 good field for fresh-water material. 

 Nearly every form found in the Great 

 Lakes and their tributaries can be 

 found there in greater or less abun- 

 dance. Winrows oiNitella are found in 

 Crystal Bay at Thousand Islands Park. 

 Swarms of hydras may be gathered 

 under the leaves of pond-lilies at the 

 foot of "Seven Isles, "or in the "Lake of 

 the Island." Water-weeds of various 

 kinds have their rich slimy coating 

 of diatoms ; surfaces of rocks in pla- 

 ces have a thick coating of fine algae 

 and infusoria. River Gananozne 

 gives the diatoms of Canada with 

 nostocs, myxomycetes and confer- 

 vas in abundance. 



Bays where streams empty are rich 

 in black mud and various algse. Bar- 

 ren rocks have their lichens, with 

 parasitic lichens. Diatoms though 

 mostly of smaller forms, nearly ex- 

 haust the first two fascicles of Van 

 Heurck's Synopsis. Nearly everything 

 microscopical may be found here 

 that grows in our northern climate, 

 being the great reservoir of many 

 waters. Take along your micro- 

 scopes. J. M. A. 



EDITORIAL. 



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 money received by open mail. 



Water Colored by Alg^. — In 

 England the formation of a green 

 scum upon the surface of ponds is 

 called the "breaking of the meres." 

 It is caused by the rapid growth of 

 algae of different kinds. 



Long ago one of the plants which 

 caused this appearance at Ellesmere, 

 Eng., was described as Echinella ar- 

 ticulata, which is given in Raben- 

 horst's " Flora Algarum," III, 386, 

 as Chcztophora ptmctiformis. This is 

 a plant with tapering filaments grow- 



ing out from a common centre, form- 

 ing minute, globular, transparent, 

 green masses, the filaments growing 

 to about 0.7 mm. in length, with a 

 spherical cell at the base of each. 



Mr. M. C. Cooke, in Grevillea, has 

 drawn attention to some other algse, 

 which have caused a similar appear- 

 ance. In a lake near Aberdeen, 

 spherical bodies of -^-^ to -^^ of an 

 inch in diameter were observed in 

 great abundance. This was named 

 Rivularia echimdata, and along with 

 it was found an alga named IVichor- 

 tnus flos-aquce, Bory. We are unable 

 to identify the Rivularia under the 

 proper name according to the pre- 

 sent classification, but doubtless it is 

 a species of Chatophora. 



Another alga, which was found in . 

 great abundance in Ballydrain Lake, 

 was described as Anabana spiralis^ 

 but afterward transferred by Raben- 

 horst to Spirulina and named Sp. 

 Tho?npsoni. 



Among the other algs mentioned 

 in this connection are Anabcena flos- 

 aquce, Bory, Sphcerozyga flos-aqucB, 

 Oscillatoria certigescens, and Osc. ru- 

 bescens which forms a reddish scum. 

 T\iQ. Anabcena flos-aqucs, Bory, may 

 be Rabenhorst's A. circinalis. 



Last year, the water in the ponds 

 of Central Park, in this city, was oc- 

 casionally colored very deeply by a 

 species of Anabcena to which we have 

 not ventured to give a specific name 

 as yet. This we found in abundance 

 in the large lake, and also in a pond 

 not far from the Museum of Natural 

 History, in August. Mingled with it 

 was Anabce?ia bullosa. 



At other times we have seen the 

 water near the cave, in the Park, co- 

 lored with Oscillaria. 



Other species produce the same 

 phenomena, and whenever any of 

 our readers observe the coloration, 

 we would be glad to have them in- 

 form us of the cause. 



About New York, a green and a 

 very bright-red scum is formed by 

 Euglena viridis, which is at one time 

 green, and later becomes red. This, 



