JUNE, 1882. 187 



primarily caused by the fungus, to be discussed by those 

 less immediately interested. We have little doubt our- 

 selves that vigorous fish, with plenty of nourishment and 

 well oxygenated water, will not yield to the assault of 

 any fungus as a rule ; and certainly in the case of this 

 plaice the system must have been lethargic and incapable 

 of secreting sufficient mucous, or else the spores would 

 have been thrown off from its back in the ordinary slimy 

 secretion usually so plentiful in the flat fishes. 



The hail was dashing violently in our face, and the 

 waves rolling with a rush and a roar up to our feet, as 

 we skirted Ardmucknish Bay, wondering if aught of the 

 secrets of the deep were to be thrown in our path. The 

 elegant white, almost circular, shells of Venus exoleta 

 were plentifully strewn along the gravel, so common that 

 their exquisite symmetry was almost lost sight of; and 

 many elegant sea-weeds were tossed in from the deeper 

 water outside. But only one vegetable product of the 

 deep could attract our attention to-day. It was no use 

 for the tangle to throw its smooth leaves of richest and 

 darkest brown in complicated heaps upon the beach 

 when close at hand those magnificent fronds of Saccharina, 

 the Icelandic sugar ware, were spreading themselves full 

 along the water's edge. Our thoughts were otherwise 

 engaged, but even the absent eye is brought suddenly 

 home in the presence of such luxuriance. Here is one 

 by itself, so we stretch it out and pace its length, good 

 15 feet, although a considerable portion of the ribbon- 

 like end has been broken off, while for a large proportion 

 of its length it is from a foot to 18 inches wide. Verily, 

 no such leaf can we produce from the soil of Benderloch, 

 and we must go to the Banana-decked tropics to find any 

 comparable frond, washed by an air in place of a water 



