232 Miscellaneous. 



the presence of animal life in the thermal waters, Mr. Wm. Gabb, of 

 the State Geological Survey, states that he has visited the locality, 

 knows Mrs. Partz very well, and that whatever she says may be 

 relied on as accurate. 



The colour of the dried specimen varies from a very elegant bluish 

 green to a dirty greenish and fuscous brown. After somewhat 

 prolonged soaking in hot water, the specimens regained apparently 

 their original form and dimensions, and were found to be in very 

 good condition for microscopical study. 



The plant in its earliest stages appears to consist simply of cylin- 

 drical filaments, which are so small that they are resolved with some 

 difficulty into their component cells by a first-class one-filth objec- 

 tive. Fronds composed entirely of filaments of this description were 

 received. Some of these were marked as "first forms," and as 

 having grown in water at a temperature of 160° F. Probably these 

 were collected immediately over the spot where the heated water 

 bubbled up. At this temperature, if the collection made is to be 

 relied on as the means of judging, the plant does not perfect itself. 

 To the naked eye these "first forms" were simply membranous ex- 

 pansions, of a vivid green colour and indefinite size and shape, 

 scarcely as thick as writing-paper, with their edges very deeply cut 

 and running out into a long waging hair-like fringe. Other speci- 

 mens, which grew at a much lower temperature, exactly simulated 

 those just described, both in general appearance and microscopical 

 characters. 



These, I believe, were the immature plant. 



The matured fronds, as obtained by the method of soaking above 

 described, were " gelatinous membranous," of a dirty greenish or 

 fuscous brown at their bases, and bright green at their marginal 

 portions, where they were deeply incised and finally split up into 

 innumerable hair-like processes. Proximally they were one or even 

 two lines in thickness, distally they were scarcely as thick as tissue 

 paper. Their bases were especially gelatinous, sometimes somewhat 

 translucent, and under the microscope were found to have in them 

 only a few distant filaments. 



Two sets of filaments were very readily distinguished in the adult 

 plant. The most abundant of these, and that especially found in 

 the distal portions of the fronds, were composed of uniform cylin- 

 drical cells, often enclosed in a gelatinous sheath. The diameter of 

 such filaments varies greatly; in the larger the sheaths are generally 

 apparent, in the smaller they are frequently indistinguishable. 



In certain places these filaments run more or less parallel side by 

 side, and are glued together into a sort of membrane. It is only in 

 these cylindrical filaments that I have been able to detect hetero- 

 cysts, which are not very different from the other cells : they are 

 about one-third or one-half broader, and are not vesicular, but have 

 contents similar to those of the other cells. In one instance only 

 was I able to detect hairs upon these heterocysts. 



The larger filaments are found es])ecially near the base and in the 

 other older portions of the frond. Their cells are generally irregu- 



