INTRODUCTION. 41 



chiefly used by Harvey in making his account of 

 the Pacific Algae in the '' Nereis." Since that time, 

 and especially during the last ten years, many in- 

 dustrious botanists have been at work on that rich and 

 beautiful flora. I need not here mention the names 

 of this distinguished company, for several of the best 

 known of them get frequent mention in the pages of 

 this book. These and others appear often in the 

 botanical publications by other hands. 



Previously to 1850, the knowledge of the marine 

 botany of our eastern coast was in a very imperfect 

 and chaotic state. There were a few collectors in 

 Boston and vicinity. How much any of them, with 

 the exception of Dr. Gray, knew about the natural 

 history or the systematic arrangement of the plants 

 does not appear. They included among others such 

 men as the late Mr. Geo. B. Emerson and Dr. Silas 

 Durkee. Mr. Stephen T. Olney, of Providence, who 

 did no inconsiderable work in illustrating the botany 

 of Rhode Island, collected a large number of Algae, 

 which are now in the Olney Herbarium of Brown 

 University. 



A few enthusiastic and capable collectors about 

 New York city had been at work for some time, 

 inspired and guided by that able and devoted naturalist, 

 Prof. J. W. Bailey, of the West Point Mihtary Academy, 



