Miscellaneous, 233 



larly elliptical or globose, rarely are they cylindrical. They are 

 mostly of an orange-brown colour ; and there exists a particular 

 gelatinous coating to each cell rather than a common gelatinous 

 sheath to the filament. These larger threads are apparently pro- 

 duced from the smaller filaments by a process of growth. 



Near the base and in the under portions of the fronds, these fila- 

 ments are scattered in the homogeneous jelly, in which they run in- 

 finitely diverse courses. In the upper portions of the frond, and at 

 some little distance from the base, the adjoining cells are very close 

 to one another, and pursue more or less parallel courses, with enough 

 firm jelly between to unite them into a sort of membrane. 



This plant certainly belongs to the Nostochacea), and seems a sort 

 of connecting link between the genera Hormosiphon of Kiitzing and 

 Nostoc. 



The best algologists now refuse to recognize the former group as 

 generically distinct ; and the characters presented by this plant seem 

 to corroborate that view. 



The species appears to be an undescribed one ; and I would pro- 

 pose for it the specific name Caladarium, which is suggested by its 

 place of growth. There are several species of allied genera, which 

 grow in the hot springs of Europe ; but no true Nostoc has, I believe, 

 been found before in thermal waters. The following is the technical 

 description of the species ; — 



N. caladariunif sp. nov. 



N. thallo maximo, indefinite expanse, aut membranaceo-coriaceo vel 

 membranaceo-gelatinoso vel membranaceo, aut laete viridi vel 

 sordide olivaceo -viridi vel olivaceo-brunneo, irregulariter pro- 

 funde laciniato-sinuato, ultimo eleganter laciniato ; trichomatibus 

 insequalibus, interdum flexuoso-curvatis, plerumque subrectis et 

 arete conjunctis, in formis duabus oceurrentibus : forma altera 

 parva, viridis, artieulis cylindricis, cum celluHs perdurantibus hie 

 illic interjectis, vaginis interdum obsoletis, saepius diffluentibus, 

 instructa ; forma altera maxima, artieulis globosis vel oblongis, 

 aurantiaco-brunneis, cellulis perdurantibus ab ceteris hand di- 

 versis. 



Diam. Cellulae cylindricae maximae yd-J^td' ^^®' J cellulae perdurantis 



"STTDD' ^^^* . ...... 



Diam. Formaepnmaearticulimaximipjji^^unc.; cellulae perdurantis 



^T-j^ unc. Formae secundae articuli oblongi longi ^ o^o o ~TuW ^^ic., 



lati .^o'oo 65^uo> articuli globosi ^-i^^^^.nnc. 



Adherent to, and often more or less imbedded in, the fronds of the 

 Nostoc, were scattered frustules of several species of diatoms, none 

 of which was I able to identify. In some of the fronds there were 

 numerous unicellular Algae, all of them representatives of a single 

 species belonging to the genus Chroococcus, Nageli. This genus con- 

 tains the very lowest known organisms — simple cells without nuclei, 

 multiplying, as far as known, only by cell-division. These cells are 

 found single or associated in small families ; and in certain species 

 these families are united to form a sort of indeterminate gelatinous 



