30 GREAT SEAWEEDS OF THE SOUTHERN OCEAN. 



mitting the existence of an eternity yet to come, we 

 must not close our eyes to the fact that behind us that 

 same immense eternity stretches forth in all its im- 

 measurable greatness. 



Here we close our survey of deep-sea phenomena. 

 It is however quite worth while to glance at some of 

 the living wonders of the shallower waters, especially 

 in the neighbourhood of the coasts in the seas of the 

 Southern Hemisphere. 



A few words concerning the gigantic seaweeds and 

 coral reefs of those comparatively little known regions 

 in the great wilderness of waters, will however be 

 about all that we can afford space for. 



Sir Joseph Hooker in his splendid work upon the 

 botany of these regions makes special mention of four 

 remarkable algse which he states are noticeable on 

 account of their gigantic size. Three of these are 

 found principally in the direction of Cape Horn, and 

 one at the Cape of Good Hope ; of the three former 

 one great seaweed, the Lessonia Furescens, takes the 

 form of arborescent branched trees, "with stems from 

 five to ten feet high and as thick as the human thigh, " 

 above which shoot out "branches from which hang 

 leaves one to three feet long"* but the greatest of 

 all seaweeds is the Macro cystis Pyrifera, a species of 

 gigantic " kelp. " 



This seaweed we have the high authority of Sir 

 Joseph Hooker for classing as "the longest vegetable 

 production known. " f He also tells us : 



* Botany of the Antarctic Voyage of H.M. Discovery Ships Erebus 

 and Terror, under Captain Sir James Clark Ross, by Sir Joseph D 

 Hooker, 6 Vols; Vol. i., Part ii., p. 458. 



f Ibid., Vol. i., p. 455. 



