INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATIONS. 



WHILE the dry land is richly clothed with an in- 

 numerable array of vegetable forms, each suitable for 

 the region assigned to it by Nature the gorgeous 

 Orchid luxuriating in the humid shade, and the noble 

 Palm waving in the warm breeze, of the tropics, while 

 a race of more humble productions beautify the 

 meadows and mountains of our northern isle so, in 

 like manner, the unfathomable ocean, teeming with 

 life, is abundantly furnished with its myriads of pecu- 

 liar plants, capable of existing in the watery element 

 alone, and often exhibiting a beauty and delicacy of 

 structure totally unknown among the more familiar 

 tribes, which compose the " carpet of flowers and of 

 verdure spread over the naked crust of our planet." 

 The oceanic vegetation, moreover, frequently dis- 

 plays the brightest and the freshest hues, rivalling 

 the magnificent and lovely productions of the tropical 

 Flora; and the illustrious Humboldt bears witness 

 that, at the depth of 20o feet, the lead brought up 

 sea-weed " green as grass." The Sargasso Sea, as it is 

 called, presents floating oceanic meadows of the gulf- 



