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HAMPSHIRE DAYS 



flourishes most on gravestones, especially in moist 

 situations. The stone must not be too hard, and 

 must, moreover, be acted on by the weather for 

 well-nigh half a century before the alga begins to 

 show on it; but you will sometimes see it on an 



exceptionally soft stone dating no more than thirty or 

 forty years back. On old stones it is very common 

 and peculiarly beautiful in wet summers. In June 

 1902, after many days of rain, I stood one evening at 

 the little gate at Brockenhurst churchyard, and counted 

 between me and the church twenty gravestones stained 

 with the red alga, showing a richness and variety of 



