220 CR1PTOGAMIA. 



being in this respect, nearly on a parallel with the Lichens 

 &nl Fungi. The investigation of these orders, and indeed 

 of the whole flowerless class, requires great patience and in- 

 dustry, as well as much time and practice. 



Many species of the present order, like those of the others, 

 require the aid of a lens, more or less powerful, in order to 

 discover the least sign of organization. But some of these 

 when magnified are exceedingly curious and interesting, so 

 much so, as often to strike the beholder with wonder, and to 

 suggest the inquiry why they were made with so much ap- 

 parent care and attention to symmetry, seldom to be observed 

 by the eye of man, and only to be overwhelmed and buried 

 in the depths of the sea. But the very fact observed, seems 

 to suggest the answer, that the Creator has not seen fit to 

 make his works less perfect, or less beautiful, because they 

 are of such a nature, or so situated, that man cannot derive 

 from them either profit or pleasure. 



Many of the floculent or scum-like substances which we see 

 on the sea-shore, or in ditches, and which are commonly 

 taken for the result of stagnation, are in reality minute vege- 

 tables, beautifully formed, and displaying as many wonders 

 and more peculiarities than the most perfect plants of our 

 gardens. 



Fig. 216. 



No one, not acquainted with this subject, 

 would expect to find in the floculent mass, 

 Fig. 216, any thing like organization or 

 symmetry. And yet on examination with a 

 lens, it is found to be regularly and curi- 

 ously organized, and to consist of grains 

 joined together, each having its fruit con- 

 tained in a proper capsule, as represented 

 by the figure at the left hand. 



The genus of this plant is Ectocarpus, which name is de- 

 rived from the Greek ektos, outside, and karpos, fruit, because 

 the thecae are not included in the substance of the frond, as 

 in some of the genera, but are placed on the outside. The 

 species figured is granulosus, or granular, because the whole 

 appears to be composed of grains united into threads. 



ORDER VIIT. LICHENS. Rock and Tree Morses. 

 The Lichens, we have stated, are among the lowest orders 

 In what situations are the lichens chiefly found ? 



