18 THE AQUARIAN NATURALIST. 



little as possible to the air. The red sea- weeds I have 

 found most successful. Fuci and Laminarise, besides 

 being unwieldy and unattractive, discharge so copious 

 a quantity of mucus as to thicken and vitiate the water. 

 The Ulvse and Enteromorphse, on the other hand, are 

 apt to lose their colour, take the appearance of wet 

 silver-paper or colourless membrane, and presently 

 decay and slough from their attachments. The species 

 that I have found most capable of being preserved in 

 a living state are, Chondrus crispus, the Delesseria, 

 and Iridea edulis. The last-named is the very best of 

 all, and next to it is Delesseria sanguined, for maintain- 

 ing the purity of the water, while the colours and forms 

 of these render them very beautiful objects in a vase 

 of clear water, particularly when the light, as from a 

 window, is transmitted through their transparent 

 fronds/' 



In a communication made by Mr. Warington to 

 the British Association*, he stated that the result of 

 his experiments to ascertain the kind of sea- weed best 

 fitted for maintaining the balance with animal life in 

 a vivarium, was, under ordinary circumstances, in fa- 

 vour of the CHLOROSPERMS, or green sea- weeds ; and 

 that the RHODOSPERMS, or red sea-weeds, submitted 

 to the like conditions, did not answer the purpose de- 

 sired, and at the same time retain their colour and 

 beauty, inasmuch as they very soon become coated 

 with a growth of short and brown Confervse (Conferva 

 tortuosa ?), which entirely mantled the whole surface 

 of the fronds, and destroyed their characteristic ap- 

 pearance. During these investigations, however, it 

 * Ann. Nat. Hist. 1854 



