1 8 RAMBLES AND REVERIES. 



during one of my vacations I gave myself up almost 

 exclusively to seaweed collecting, yet my sphere 

 of operations was so limited, and the kind of shore 

 which I worked was so uniform, that I must draw 

 somewhat upon previous experiences as well as 

 upon the results of others' work if I would be of any 

 service. 



FIG. 1. Fucus canaliculatus, and spore containing sporules. 



It may not be amiss, in the first place, to settle 

 what we mean by a seaweed. The very common 

 " grass-wrack," a sort of sea-grass, is not a true 

 seaweed. This plant, which botanists call Zostera 

 marina, is really a true flowering plant, whereas 

 seaweeds proper are non-flowering, cellular plants, 

 and constitute the lowest group of the great Linnean 

 division of Cryptogamia, to which also belong 



