202 THE SEA. 



the water, and the white stony skeleton alone remains. It is, however, a true vegetable, 

 as may be seen by dissolving- away the chalky portions in acid ; there is then left a vegetable 

 framework precisely like that of other algae belonging to the same sub-class. It is a 

 small plant, rarely exceeding a height of five or so inches, but it grows in luxuriant patches 

 wherever it can find a suitable spot. 



A beautiful marine plant is the Delessena sanguinea, with its beautiful scarlet leaves, 

 the branches being five or six inches in length. It has a very " ancient and fish-like 

 smell," once noticed not to be forgotten. Then again every one will remember in the little 

 seaweed bouquets and landscapes on card sold at the fashionable seaside watering-places, 

 a gay, bright, pinky-red kind, which is sure to be remarked for its charming beauty. 

 This is the Plocamium coccineum, which is found to be even more beautiful under the 

 microscope, for it is there seen that even the tiniest branchlets, themselves hardly thicker 

 than a hair, have each their rows of finer branches. 



Some seaweeds are eaten, as for example the so-called " Carrageen," or Irish moss, which 

 is used in both jelly and size, and is one of the Rhodosperm algse. To preserve it for 

 esculent purposes it is washed in fresh water and allowed to dry; it becomes then horny 

 and stiff. If boiled it subsides into a thick jelly, which is considered nutritious, and is 

 used by both invalids and epicures. Calico-printers use it for size. It is used, boiled in 

 milk, to fatten calves. 



A pretty little seaweed, Griffithsia selacea, has the property of staining paper a fine 

 pinkish-scarlet hue when its membrane bursts. Contact with fresh water will usually 

 cause the membrane to yield, and then the colouring-matter is exuded with a slight 

 crackling noise. 



The Chlorosperms, or green-seeded alga?, have the power of pouring out large quan- 

 tities of oxygen under certain conditions, and are therefore very valuable in the aquarium. 

 Among them are the sea-lettuce, before mentioned, the common sea grass, and a large 

 number of smaller and more delicate forms. 



" If," says Mr. Wood, " the naturalist wishes to dry and preserve the algse which 

 he finds, he may generally do so without much difficulty, although some plants give 

 much more trouble than others. It is necessary that they should be well washed in fresh 

 water, in order to get rid of the salt, which, being deliquescent,* would attract the moisture 

 on a damp day, or in a damp situation, and soon ruin the entire collection. When they are 

 thoroughly washed the finest specimens should be separated from the rest and placed in a 

 wide, shallow vessel, filled with clear fresh water. Portions of white card, cut to the requisite 

 size, should then be slipped under the specimen, which can be readily arranged as they 

 float over the immersed card. The fingers alone ought to answer every purpose, but a 

 cameFs-hair brush and a needle will often be useful. When the specimen is properly arranged 

 the card is lifted from the water, carrying upon it the piece of seaweed. There is little 

 difficulty in getting the plants to adhere to the paper, as most of the algse are furnished 

 with a gelatinous substance which acts like glue and fixes them firmly down." If not, the 



* The reader may have found in his own experience that a garment which has been well drenched in salt 

 water will always attract damp, however much dried by the fire. The only remedy is to thoroughly wash it in 

 fresh water, and then dry it. 



