CHAPTEK VI. 



HOW TO COLLECT AND PRESERVE SEA-WEED. 



Louisa Lane Clarke, in 'Common Sea-weeds,' gives 

 the following 1 suggestions, which are evidently the fruit 

 of experience: "We dabble in the cool, clear tide-pools, 

 and scarcely know what we take up; there is a world of 

 life in each. The speckled prawn is balancing- himself, 

 and waving- to and fro his sensitive feelers, spring-ing 

 away under the rich foliage that conceals his hiding- 

 place; and the small blenny darts like a lightning-flash 

 from cranny to crevice, the fear and the dread of man 

 upon it. On the green Ulva creeps the lovely little slug- 

 a bright green, spotted with white called Acteon- viridis, 

 and on darker sea-weeds the great purplish sea-hare. Sea- 

 spiders lurk amid the coralline; and as we gather a 

 bunch of sea-weed, we shake out dozens of a pretty little 

 snail called Rissoa, besides gathering, if we please, bright 

 yellow Ncrita, the commonest sea-snail of our coast. All 

 these force themselves on the notice of the sea-weed 

 gatherer, as we scramble over the rocks, and pause to 

 consider where we shall begin. 



I advise taking a little of everything not much, for 

 they so soon spoil in waiting to be mounted and nam- 

 ing each specimen as it is decided by reference to your 

 manual. If you have but a day for a sea-side holiday, go 

 down to the lowest ebb of the tide, in hopes of the best 

 red sea-weeds, and work back to the commoner, but still 

 beautiful, green sea-weeds, Ulmc and CladopJwrae. 



Suppose, now, that we have made our search, and 

 have brought home a tanglecj mass of olive, red, and 

 green sea-weeds. 



We get some soup-plates, fresh water, a bit of alum, 



