6 PELAGIC PLANT-LIFE. 



as an ancient marine deposit on land ; while others have 

 secured many in the stomachs of ascidians. 



Though it is not so long since the intimate connection 

 between this ubiquitous plant-life as food for the higher marine 

 forms has been prominently demonstrated, yet it had not 

 altogether been overlooked. The herbivorous cetaceans, as the 

 manatees and dugongs were called, are well-known instances. 

 From time immemorial dulce, Irish moss, many other algae, 

 and edible swallows' nests (an algoid substance), have been 

 esteemed by man ; and certain land-animals, as pigs, cattle and 

 ponies, eat with avidity tangles or other olive sea-weeds. Even 

 the microscopic plants of the ocean (viz. diatoms) in their 

 innutritions condition as a deposit on land (mountain-flour) 

 were formerly mixed with the pounded inner bark of the Scotch 

 fir to satisfy the simple appetites of the Norse peasantry. 



The presence of the minuter forms of plant-life must have 

 been familiar to fishermen and voyagers from early times, 

 either as a coating on their nets, as causing discoloration of 

 the sea, or stranded as a scum on the beach. The occurrence 

 of diatoms and other minute forms has also been noted by 

 scientific observers such as Sir Joseph Banks, Sir Joseph 

 Hooker, Dr Gwyn Jeffreys and the various explorers of modern 

 times, e.g. those on board the ' Challenger,' as well as the staff 

 of the German Plankton Expedition. The great abundance of 

 diatoms in the Arctic and still more in the Antarctic seas is 

 well known, while in the depths of the Black Sea all else is 

 stated to be absent but bacteria. 



Detailed examination of the pelagic life of St Andrews 

 Bay and the offshore waters of the east coast for many years 

 showed the vast abundance and variety of minute plants at all 

 seasons, from January to December \ Their occurrence in the 

 stomachs of many invertebrates and even in some fishes further 

 indicated the important part played by them. The presence of 

 such as Rhizosolenia not only coloured the sea, but coated nets 

 with an odoriferous layer. The intimate connection between 

 the two great kingdoms was clearly pointed out as follows : — ' It 

 is a remarkable fact that it is primarily to plants in inshore 

 1 Itli Amu Report, S. F. B., 1889, pp. 259—310, 4 Plates. 



