SEA-WEEDS. 147 



stones in the sea, and is finest during the winter 

 months. It is generally of a lighter colour than 

 the former plant, and the segments of the frond 

 are not flat, but channelled. The most obvious 

 distinction from the curled crispus, however, is 

 its producing on the surface of the broader seg- 

 ments little capsules on short stalks, each about as 

 large as a turnip seed, which contain a mass of 

 red seeds. It is very variable in size and shape. 

 It is of an East Indian species of this genus that 

 the Chinese birds make those nests so much valued 

 in the East, and which being sold at so high a 

 price, are often procured at the hazard of life from 

 some of the sea-caves. 



In the winter time, too, there is a common 



sea-weed on the English shore, called the Red 



Phyllophora (Phyllophora rubens), with a fine but 



L 2 



