342 OBSEKVATIONS ON THE CUERENTS. 



(It had evidently been drifted out of the area by the Guinea Current, 

 described on pages 325 — 334. Its not being known farther East is probably 

 owing to the difference in the temperature of the sea, which kills the weed 

 before it can arrive there). 



(301.) Mr. Luccock, in his " Notes on Brasil," likewise described the 

 Green or Weedy Sea. He states that it extends from 11° to 35° of North 

 latitude, and from 30° of longitude to an indefinite distance Westward. 

 "Here," he says, "the ocean is covered by nodules of sea- weed, from 3 to 

 18 inches in diameter, somewhat resembling in form a cauliflower when 

 stripped of its leaves. They float lightly on the water, in parallel hnes, at 

 a very few yards from each other, and have a yeUow-brown colour, like the 

 long stringy fibre which is sometimes seen floating in the English Channel, 

 and which I suppose to be the natural colour of all marine plants, growing 

 deeply beneath the surface of the water. These nodules, or spherules, are 

 composed of a vast number of small branches, about half an inch long, 

 which shoot from each other at an angle of about 40° ; hence they multiply 

 continually towards the superficies of the sphere ; and each extreme point 

 produces a round seed-vessel. This is little more than one-tenth part of 

 an inch in diameter, is hollow, and contains a small reddish-brown seed, 

 scarcely occupying one-fifth part of the husk. The leaf of the plant springs 

 from the joints of the branches, is oblong, indented at the edges, about 

 1^ inch long, and a quarter of an inch broad. 



" When the nodule is dexterously taken up, all the branches may be 

 traced to one principal stalk ; and this invariably shows a fracture, the 

 part by which it has been joined to some larger stem. This fracture is 

 frequently quite fresh, and, in large and vigorous plants, shows distinctly 

 a woody part and a cortex. On the edges of the latter, the first symptoms 

 of decay appear. They become brown, and separate themselves from the 

 wood. This, also, then assumes a darker colour, and exhibits the regular 

 process of disorganization, just in the same manner as does a slip from a 

 currant or gooseberry bush. In process of time, the whole of the plant 

 assumes a darker hue ; and, as it decays, floats considerably lower than it 

 did. When kept out of the water for a few hours, it becomes harsh and 

 brown, and acquires the peculiar smell of marine vegetables in a state of 

 putrefaction. 



" A great number of very minute barnacles are found upon the leaves 

 and stalks. The seed-pod is usually enveloped in a sort of honeycomb 

 work, which may be taken from it, and, when examined by a lens, resem- 

 'bles in appearance the network of a fly's eye. (This is called, fiustra). 

 Among other inhabitants of the plant is frequently a number of small 

 crabs, perfectly formed, and evidently young, yet vigorous and active ; and 

 when a nodule, taken fresh from the water at night, is hung up in a small 

 cabin, it emits phosphorescent light enough to render objects visible. 



" The singular arrangement of the plants, in parallel lines, is evidently 

 owing to the wind, whose direction they always observe. Each nodule 

 places itself under the lee of its more windward neighbour, and thus ob- 

 serves the law of floating bodies when exposed to a current of air. Should 

 the wind suddenly change, as it sometimes does, a point or two, in this 

 part of the Atlantic, and blow strong, these lines become broken, and form 



