ALCYONIDIUM GELATINOSUM. 427 



CHAPTER XLVI. 



ALCYONIDIUM GELATINOSUM " PUDDING-WEED " 



" SEA-RAGGED-STAFF." 



" Fair creatures of the ocean, that reside 

 Happy in grottos of pure crystal, deck'd 

 With shining gems, and prettily sustain'd 

 On columns of clear glass !" 



AN elegant writer observes, that ' l there is an inde- 

 scribable charm about the illusions with which chi- 

 merical ignorance once clothed every subject. Those 

 twilight views of nature are often more captivating 

 than any which are revealed by the rays of enlightened 

 philosophy. The most accomplished and poetical 

 minds, therefore, have been fain to search back into 

 the accidental conceptions of what are termed barba- 

 rous ages, and to draw from them their finest imagery 

 and machinery." 



Far be it from us to underrate the " accidental 

 conceptions " of our forefathers, or the " imagery and 

 machinery " of which they have been suggestive ; on 

 the contrary, we have not unfrequently endeavoured 

 to enliven our pages by the introduction of a few of 

 their quaint absurdities. There is, however, some- 

 thing in the study of Natural History peculiarly re- 



